I'd Come For You
by Watson-A-Name92
Summary: Follows Leave Out All the Rest. Jane's to-do list- Step 1, get out of the deal made with the others. Step 2, Find her friends. 3, Escape, get home and find half the camp doesn't trust her. Well, most people would throw a fit after that, wouldn't they?
1. Chapter 1

Jane Payton was convinced she was pacing a hole in the floor of her… prison cell. That's what it was. A solid concrete room with a few monitors that she was being forced to work with. It sure felt like she was on the other side of the bars. She had turned off the observation screens in hopes that Ben would find out about her tracking her friends instead of what he had threatened her to do, and come to question her. She figured she could get a punch in, at least, before he pulled something and she got hurt worse. It would be worth it, as far as she was concerned. She heard the door to the room start to open, and she leaned back on the control unit, crossing her arms over her chest.

Richard Alpert poked his head inside, and when he was satisfied she hadn't found anything to use as a weapon against him, he came through all the way. "Ben's sent me to see if you wanted anything."

"How charming…" Jane sighed, then looked down.

Richard shrugged. "The offer's valid, no matter what you think of him." He replied.

Jane scoffed. "How does 'Let my friends go back to the beach unharmed and not have your people attack us from now on' suit his needs, then?"

Richard chuckled, then sighed. "The both of us know that request isn't going to fly, Jane."

Jane stared at him for a while, then looked down. "Can I see my sister?"

"Which one?" Richard asked, not missing a beat.

Jane didn't miss the hint of the smirk that grew on his face. Bastard. "The one that you already have in custody with my friends and I." She snarled.

Richard nodded. "I'm sure that can be arranged, but… are you sure you want to, after the last time you two talked? I doubt she'll-"

"Get the Hell out of here and get arranging." Jane snapped.

Richard arched an eyebrow, but said nothing. He turned and left the room.

Jane turned back around and all but collapsed into one of the chairs. She tried not to scream out in frustration. She knew that if anyone heard her, it would just give whichever Other it was the satisfaction that one of them were breaking. She turned the screens on again and fiddled with the controls. She eyed each screen until she caught movement on one of the screens on the far left. Someone was being dragged- and not just someone. "Sawyer!"

The chair couldn't take her leaning over any longer and tilted. She went down with it. She flinched, but wasted no time in standing up as well as picking up the chair and putting it upright. She didn't bother sitting. Her head snapped back to the screen in time to see two of the Others- Danny and someone else, literally throw Sawyer into a cage. She hissed in sympathy, then tried to find alternate angles on the cage to see where the Hell he was in comparison to where she was- and where Jack was- sure, she was looking for Kate too, but being that she wouldn't have cared if Kate got tossed off a cliff and would in fact applaud the offender, she wasn't that worried about the other woman. She managed to find a few switches and got three angles on Sawyer, and two on a smaller man she didn't recognize that was in a cage across from Sawyer's a few minutes after. Jack, however, was still missing. "Where the Hell are you…?" She went through what she figured was every angle she could get around the cages. Nothing else came up. No sign of Jack. Jane wasn't sure if that should have relieved her or terrified her. She checked the other two for harm as much as possible before the door to the room opened again. She turned around and swallowed hard, seeing Richard had Toni-Anne in tow with him this time.

"I arranged," Richard told her sarcastically. "You have five minutes." He replied before leaving.

The girls waited until the door gave its usual heavy, metallic closing screech, then looked at each other.

Toni-Anne was the first to speak. "So, why am I here after you told me I wasn't your sister?"

Jane sighed. "I'll admit I was out of line, alright? I got you to come here to apologize. I was stupid, and… it was just… crazy, and I was just… dumped here, and I… I was scared, happy? I don't handle being scared well."

Toni-Anne shook her head. "I thought you said cops don't get scared." She pointed out.

"Yeah, well, that was my ego from back home talking… now…. That doesn't apply. Plane crash, polar bears chasing our people, a smoke monster, crazy people trying to kill us, a baby getting kidnapped… it's the stuff of nightmares, and we're very much alive and awake, right in the center of it." Jane replied. "Egos change… everything changes."

Toni-Anne waited a moment. "Look, Jane, the last thing I wanted to do was see you guys get hurt-"

"I know, okay?" Jane cut her off. "I didn't mean any of what I said before… maybe I did, but… not the way it came out… not so harsh." She glanced back at the screens, not wanting to meet her sister's eyes. She looked back just in time to see Sawyer press something in his cage and go launching backward for her trouble. "SAWYER!" She turned abruptly and screamed, more out of habit than anything. She felt bad a moment later, figuring there was a bigger problem literally standing in front of her. However, then same problem let out a yelp of alarm and was next to her, watching the outcome onscreen a moment later.

"Is he okay?" Toni-Anne asked.

Jane squinted, trying to examine the squirming man, just as she had been before. "Pretty sure he just said 'son of a bitch', so he should be… I hope." She nodded when Sawyer hesitantly rolled onto his knees and pushed himself upright. "Yeah…"

After a few seconds, Toni-Anne spoke up again. "So, this is what they've had you do this whole time? Keep an eye on the others when they play their games?"

"Pretty much. Then again, looking for a group of their enemies is what they assigned me to do, thanks to my 'experience in security'- I just decided to multitask and make sure our guys aren't getting murdered when I'm here and can't help them." Jane replied.

Toni-Anne tried not to grin in relief. Her sister had just said 'our'- not 'my' or anything of the like. The same went for 'we're' before. She was back in her sister's good graces- somewhat back in, at least. She knew her sister, and knew it would take more than just this meeting to get her sister's trust back, but it was a start already. She hesitantly maneuvered over to one of the knobs. "How can you stand that? I get the whole checking on them from a distance, thing, but… isn't that just about torture for you?" She started to turn it.

Jane glanced at the screen that the knob controlled. "Pretty much, but it gives me peace of mind at the same time that they're okay, at least at the moment- STOP!" Jane launched herself forward again. "Turn back, just a little. Get the last angle back up." She instructed.

Toni-Anne quickly did as she was told.

Jane let out a disbelieving laugh when she spotted the missing piece of the puzzle as the previous angle came back up. It was Jack, unharmed, it looked like. He was in a room, much like the one the sisters were in now, and he was tugging on a chain that was hanging from the ceiling. "Oh, thank God…" She sighed. "If I could just find Hurley, make sure he made it back…" Her voice trailed off when she saw Jack look off to his right, and look half angry, half confused. "Oh, no. What is it now?"

When Juliet showed up in the corner of the screen, Jane couldn't hold back the scowl. "Stay the Hell away from him, you psychotic lowlife…" She snarled.

"Don't like Juliet, huh?" Toni-Anne asked.

"I tend to dislike people who hold a gun to my back and make me act like I'm one of the bastards who tried to kill my friends- in front of my friends." Jane replied.

Toni-Anne frowned. "She did that?"

Jane nodded. "Seemed to get off on it, too." She replied, then cringed when microphone white noise came through on the feed. She didn't notice that the door opened and the creek came in perfect timing with the white noise. "Two can play at that game, you know that?" Jane hit the microphone button again. This was worth a bigger shot. She glanced to make sure that it was going to feed into wherever Jack's room was, then hit the button. "Jack, don't-" She jerked back when a hand came out of nowhere and smacked her own away. She turned abruptly to see Richard glaring down at her. She sighed and put her hands up. "You had to expect this, didn't you?" She snapped.

Richard sighed. "Yeah, we did. I wished we didn't, but we did, unfortunately." He motioned for her to stand up and walk to the other side of the room. He was honestly surprised when she reluctantly obeyed. He turned off the feeds and stared at the controls for a few seconds. "Which means we had a plan in case it happened."

"Meaning…?" Jane demanded.

Richard frowned. "Toni-Anne, please leave." He deadpanned.

Toni-Anne frowned. "Richard, come on. This isn't-"

"Now," Richard insisted.

Toni-Anne and Jane glanced at each other. The younger sibling sent the older an apologetic look before making a quick exit.

Richard waited patiently, and then looked back at Jane. "Why do you seem to want to make this more difficult for yourself? Why are you trying to make constant trouble?" He demanded. "It's only going to hurt you and your friends in the long run. It might end in your or their deaths." He leaned forward. "You know that, right?"

Jane smirked. "Course I do. At least when I die for my troubles I'll know I at least gave your people some of the Hell your people gave mine." She replied.

Richard smiled, and Jane couldn't help but compare it to one of Kevin's smiles when she and him were trading banter and he approved of a snippy comeback. She shook the thought from her head. Richard wasn't Kevin. He was far from Kevin.

The pair spent the next few minutes exchanging glances all the while trying to look anywhere but each other. The door finally opened again, and Danny stepped into the room.

Jane groaned. "Of all the people…" He looked at Richard. "He gonna shoot me or pull some shit like Juliet did?" She demanded.

Richard merely raised his eyebrows, then looked down at the floor.

"Naturally…" Jane shook her head. "Bastards. Each and every one of you." She muttered.

Danny smirked. "Stop that, girl, you're makin' us blush." He replied. He approached her, then grabbed her arm and started dragging her out of the room down the hallway. When a sudden, loud creaking started up when they were halfway down the hallway. "The Hell is that…?" She demanded, then noticed Danny had let go of her and slowed his pace. They rounded a corner and the creaking got louder. Jane's heart skipped a beat when she spotted Jack with his back to them, looking at a door that a red wheel was on. "Jack?"

Jack turned sharply. "Jane!"

A moment later, the door burst open and a wall of water came through, knocking Jack off his feet and backward several feet. Jane and Danny were the next unintentional tragets, and the force of the water knocked them back, and even back around the corner. The two scrambled for the pipes running up the edges of where the two halls met and held on as best they could as the water level rose. Jane turned back to Danny. "The Hell is this?"

"Your idiot friend just signed all of our death warrants, that's what!" Danny screamed back.

A few moments later, the creaking abruptly stopped, as did the water rushing in. The pair could hear Juliet yelling something at Jack.

Jane frowned when she noticed the water started going down. "Jack!" She called again, praying that he heard her or at least tried to get away from Juliet and try to regroup. When she heard him yell in pain, she tensed up. "JACK!" She repeated.

"He ain't listening. It worked. He thinks you betrayed 'em!" Danny supplied.

Jane glanced down at the water level. It had dropped to knee level, at least. That was good enough for her. She turned sharply and kneed Danny hard in the stomach, knocking him clear into the water. She jumped down and ran towards where Jack was. She frowned, seeing Juliet holding him just above water, waiting for the rest of it to do down. "What the Hell did you do to him?" She yelled once Juliet spotted her. She went to advance on her, but Danny came up behind her and tackled her to the ground. By the time she got her head above water and kicked Danny away again, Juliet and Jack were gone. "Son of a bitch!" She snapped. She waited for the rest of the water to go down. She spotted Danny walking towards her again and shoved him away again. "Don't worry. I'm headed back to my room, no more trouble from me." She snapped.

"Good." Danny grumbled. "Go on, then."

Jane shot him a glare, and then returned back to the observation room. To her surprise, barely any water got in, save for the bit that came in when she opened the door and shut it. She groaned and rung her hair out in the corner and took her shoes and socks off. Everything else was staying on. Who knew who was watching her when she watched everything go down. She shook her hands free of water and turned the screens back on. She saw that Kate was now in the cage that the unknown man had been in. She sighed and dropped into the chair, rubbing her face. She was lost as to what to, once again.

Well, at least that was nothing new.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Once again, I'm playing with which Other goes where. If it puts you out, well, that sucks. Sorry.**

**DavidB226Morris: I figure you're gonna get to this chapter in some way shape or form if you keep up to me, and being that there's no chapter left to reply in/ you reviewed as an anon, I might as well reply now: Glad you liked it, and thanks for pointing out the 'complete' thing. I could've sworn I did it, but I must've dreamt it or something. It coulda been a little mistake, but it cut off when you mentioned two complaints. If it wasn't a mistake, feel free to tell me them.**

**I don't own Lost, so on and so forth, enjoy. Lotsa stuff happens in this chapter. Kinda skims soap opera drama, I'm not gonna lie. (Laughs) at least I'm willing to admit it. Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Jane glanced down and examined her arm. Four purple finger-shaped lines were just below shoulder. Danny had one Hell of a grip, she gave him that. The bruise was going to last a while. She hoped the one that was probably on his stomach from her own retaliation lasted just as long. She glanced at the screens. Jack was sitting in the corner of his cell, looking absolutely miserable. Sawyer and Kate were talking to each other in their own respective cages. The other screens flipped from area to area on the island. She didn't bother glancing back when she heard the door open. "Absolutely no change. No sight of Widmore, or… Benson, or Davis…"<p>

"Well, Jane, I'm not looking for them at the moment." Ben replied, walking behind her and looking at the screens. "I'm doing what you're doing- keeping an eye on your people."

Jane leaned forward when Ben put his hands on the back of her chair.

Ben didn't notice, or chose not to say anything in response. "Juliet's bringing him lunch. I'm just ensuring what happened last time doesn't happen."

Jane clenched her jaw, trying to not to scream or hit him once again. She glanced back at Jack's screen. Her friend barely moved when Juliet came in with the tray. Juliet said something, but Jack made no effort to reply. After a few moment, Juliet left.

Ben let go of Jane's chair. "Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll leave you to go attend to him."

"You won't find any argument come from me there." Jane deadpanned.

Ben half exhaled, half laughed, and then left.

Jane turned her attention back to her friends onscreen and couldn't help but laugh when she saw Sawyer beaming about getting the machine in his cell to work. It dropped the second that she spotted the top of Danny's head enter the frame, and then he stepped forward, showing up completely. He beckoned Sawyer over. "Alright, what're you up to now, Jackass?" Jane muttered. She watched as Sawyer and Kate were led out of their cages and out of the frame, to the right. Jane sighed in frustration. "Every damn time…" She fussed with the controls again to follow them. She heard the door opened. "Heard you were off to bully Jack. What brough you back here?" She asked.

"I just wanted to see your pretty face, Princess!"

Jane's hand stilled on one of the knobs and she turned in her chair. "Tom,"

Tom winked at her, then motioned at her to get up and follow him. "Come on. Same deal as the other day. "

"Which other day?" Jane demanded.

"The docks. Chop chop." Tom replied.

"What, no gun to my back to make sure I don't try anything?" Jane asked.

"Eh, my method's vary from Juliet's. I'm a proper gentleman. Hell, I'll even let you talk like she didn't. Now git." He motioned outside in the hallway.

Jane sighed and got up, going over to him. "Oh yes, so proper." She went right when he pointed, and waited for him to take the slight lead before continuing to walk.

Tom led her down a few halls, outside, then under an overhang. She swallowed hard when she saw Toni-Anne walking down the next path over. Just what was she here for? Was Toni some sort of insurance she didn't pull anything? If that was the case, and Tom had arranged it, he lost a point that he had just gained for being witty. She nearly stopped in her tracks when Sawyer, Kate and another set of others stepped into view behind Toni's companion. What the Hell was going on?

A woman called out for Danny in Sawyer and Kate's group, and the man walked over to her.

Jane glanced at Sawyer and Kate. Kate was glaring at her, and Sawyer had the same expression he had on the docks. She stepped forward to get a good angle to mouth something at them at the least.

"Hey!"

She flinched and turned sharply when Danny called her. She walked over. When she glanced at Tom, he merely shrugged and offered what was probably supposed to be an apologetic smile. She sent a glare in return and looked around, tuning out their conversation.

The walk continued a few moments later. They got to the bottom of the hill they had been on and reached a clearing where several people were digging up, hauling, and breaking up rocks.

Jane nearly jumped when someone elbowed her, having been so absorbed in trying not to look at her friends and trying to get bearings. She glanced toward the offender and her heart sank when she saw it was Sawyer. What could she have time to tell him before Danny went apeshit, and what could she say.

"Copper, the Hell is going on with you?" He demanded.

Jane frowned at him. "Are you kidding me? You believed him. Sawyer, you-"

"Quiet!" Danny barked from the front. "Ford and Austen, front and center!"

Sawyer looked at Jane. "This ain't over."

"No, it isn't." Jane agreed before he was shoved towards the front of the group with Danny. She stared at the ground for a while until someone tapped her shoulder. She turned around and frowned at Tom as he smiled at her. "What?"

"You're with us on keeping an eye on your friends up close." Tom replied. "So let's start walkin', huh? You see those trees marked with red in those four corners? Walk from tree to tree."

"What is this? A work camp?" Jane demanded. "So that's Ben's game? He's a Neo-Nazi?"

Tom laughed. "Ah, Janie, you crack me up." He patted her on the back and she practically launched herself away from him to get away from his hand. She started walking, just as instructed. She groaned when a few others, including Tom, followed a few feet behind her. That gave her little to no time to talk to her friends- well, friend, if she could. She turned sharply when she heard Sawyer yell out in pain. She spotted him fall to the ground. She spotted Danny in front of him, holding a taser. With the short range between them, there was no denying what Danny had done. The realization alone shattered the barrier that she had put up to ensure not snapping at any of the Others. "Hey!" She bolted over to her friends, taking care to avoid Tom's arm when he reached for her to stop her. She made it over to Kate and Sawyer and slid the last couple of feet in the mud to make herself the divider between Sawyer and Danny. She put her hand on Sawyer's shoulder. "What the Hell was that about?" She screamed in Danny's face. She looked at Sawyer. "You okay?" She asked before turning and glaring at Danny again.

"… I'm… fine…" Sawyer replied hesitantly.

"I was just reinforcing some rules for over here." Danny replied.

"Well, you know what? I highly doubt Ben would stick to his word anyway, but point is- you just broke Ben's part of the deal- me working for you as long as none of my friends got hurt. I gave you leeway when I was locked in that damn room, but I will not grant that when I'm twenty feet away. Deal's off. I'm not helping you people anymore. I did what I was supposed to, you didn't. You wanna keep me as a prisoner with them, then that's just fine." She reached back and held her hand out.

Sawyer stared at it for a while, then reached up and took it.

Jane helped him to his feet, then slid under one arm to support him as he stood.

Danny scowled. "Then let's get you to do one last task- get him the Hell outta here before I kill 'em and make both you and him miserable." He shot back. "Kate will be fine on her own, I'm guessing, now that she doesn't have two rebel friends."

Kate's confused look turned into a glare as it switched over to Danny.

"Works damn well for me." Jane replied.

Danny motioned at the path they had taken before. "Keep going straight up the path, then left. You can't miss the cages." He instructed. "You of all people should know that we will find out of you pull shit, and you will be shot!" He added.

"Burn in Hell." Jane snarled before turning roughly. Sawyer limped along with her.

After a few minutes of silence, Sawyer coughed. "Alright, Copper. Care to explain what the Hell this whole thing was about?"

"Did you believe the bastard when he said that they had gotten to me early on?" Jane countered.

Sawyer sighed. "Copper, I ain't-"

"You want an answer from me or not? You get it if you answer me first." Jane replied.

Sawyer stopped walking, and Jane stopped to accommodate the change of motion. "… I honestly wasn't sure, Copper. Hell, I'm still not sure…" He let out a quick yelp of alarm he would deny til his dying day when her weight disappeared from under him and he stumbled. Yeah, that was pretty dumb to say in your condition, he realized once he righted himself.

"I just got you the Hell out of there after hen tased you and you're not sure that I'm on your side- Holy shit, Sawyer! I can't… UGH!" She tossed her hands up and stormed forward.

Sawyer took a couple of steps slowly, and once he was satisfied he could walk on his own, he sped up to catch up to her. "Well, I didn't have much to go on, did I? You up and disappeared-"

"They knocked you out and dragged me off!" Jane snapped.

"And then we didn't hear from you! Who knows what coulda gone down-"

"Do you have that little faith in me?" Jane demanded.

Sawyer shrugged. "Hey, turned out Ethan was the bad guy, no one knew it. Mike just stabbed us in the back, how the Hell were we supposed to guess you didn't do that?"

"Because I was around longer than them and have never given you reason not to trust me!" Jane replied. "Hell, you're more Other material than I am!"

Sawyer scoffed. "You say that to a guy who's not sure if they should trust you or not?"

"Hell yes. Why the Hell is it you out of everyone who's having trouble even considering that I never left our side." Jane spotted the cages a few feet ahead, sped up, and when she reached the edge of one, she turned around and waited for his response.

Sawyer snorted. "You mean you're not more worried about Jacko? Pretty sure he didn't lose his cool 'til he saw you on the dock." Sawyer replied.

"Oh, of course it's a cheap shot at Jack with this. I shouldn't be surprised. He's fine, by the way. Grow the Hell up, Sawyer. He's not the only one I care about out of you pe- mmph!"Jane went wide-eyed when ,the next thing she knew, Sawyer was kissing her- hard, at that, and her arms were pinned between their bodies. Despite herself, she just about melted into it after a moment. There was no denying the man could kiss, and damn it, she'd be lying to herself if she said she didn't want it, even in the slightest. The pair drew back, panting. Jane glanced down to find that her hands had gone from being pinned down to tanged in his shirt.

After a second, Sawyer smiled. "See? All you had to do was say somethin' typical like that- backing up Jacko like he's the Second Coming and I'd believe ya. I knew you couldn't have crossed us."

"No shit, you insufferable, arrogant moron." Jane replied, though it was through laughter.

"I apologize for interrupting that… moment, but… I'm afraid it's a must."

Jane simply growled at the familiar voice, then let Sawyer yank her behind him before the owner – Ben, came out of hiding.

Ben glanced between the two, then focused on Jane. "Jack's demanding to see you, and he's being quite loud about it. You want me to tell him you're… preoccupied?"

Jane glanced at Sawyer, who rolled his eyes and nodded towards Ben. She gave his hand a gentle, quick squeeze before walking over to Ben.

Ben glanced at Sawyer. "I would assume you wouldn't like being locked up in the cage again, but after how I saw you get treated back there, I'm not where you'd be worse off."

"Since when did you care about us, Bug-Eyes?" Sawyer snarled.

"You're right, I don't. Cage, now." Ben instructed.

Sawyer made a face at him, but went all the same.

Ben locked the cage door behind him, then looked at Jane. "I'm to understand you ended our little agreement earlier today."

"Danny hurt Sawyer. He's one of you. It counts. You broke your side of the agreement by letting him do it."

Ben shrugged. "Fine. It ends, but let's get Jack's request in first, shall we? I'm sure you and Kate will be fine sharing the same cell afterwards."

"Whatever. Just bring me to him." Jane replied.

"Mm hm."

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><p>Jane let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding when the door to Jack's room opened and the man looked at her. She stepped inside and waited for Ben to close the door before turning her attention back to her friend. "Jack, before you say anything, I swear, the Others set me up. I've never stopped being on your side. They forced me to make this deal, and-" She frowned when she was pulled forward, and her head went up at an odd angle. She merely blinked at the ceiling as she registered there was one arm around her shoulders, and the other was around her waist. "… And you're hugging me." She realized. It wasn't a kiss between them, but she suddenly felt guilty for being so… welcoming to Sawyer. Why hadn't red flags gone up in the first place? It was Jack that things seemed to be going somewhere with, not Sawyer. <em>Idiot.<em> She shook her head. Jack was talking. That was more important than berating herself. At least it seemed like there was no impending argument from the doctor.

"Damn right, I'm hugging you." Jack replied, having lifted his chin slightly from her shoulder. "I have every right to, after thinking you were dead three different times- one being my fault, no less."

Jane pulled back slightly, but held onto his arms, not at all willing to let go of her friend after the fiasco the last few days had been. "Huh?"

Jack stared at her, then let out a disbelieving laugh. "One- Sawyer came back to tell us they grabbed you. I thought they killed you and your body was gonna show up on the beach that night. Two, when we got dragged to those docks and I saw you, I was convinced that you were their insurance policy and were gonna shoot you in front of us if something went wrong since they hadn't done it yet. Then, just a couple of hours ago, when I was stupid and turned that wheel, and the water, and I didn't hear you afterward… I thought you drowned and it was my fault."

Jane arched her eyebrows. "Well, you were right about the insurance policy thing. I had a gun at my back…" She trailed off. "You didn't even look at me when we were at the dock. I was afraid you believed that I was one of them."

Jack's eyebrows shot up and he smirked, holding back another disbelieving laugh. "You thought just because I didn't look at you, I…" He shook his head. "Jane, I didn't look at you because I trusted you enough to know you were their prisoner or, hostage, or… whatever. I didn't believe Ben at all." He moved his hands to her face. "Come on. You were on the plane with us. I was convinced your sister's bag gave me a concussion when it fell on me before we took off. After we crashed, when you weren't with me, you had Sawyer following you twenty four seven." He laughed. "Besides, I highly doubt Sawyer would be alive right now if you were one of them '_early on'_. Hell, he woulda been the first to go, and not Steve."

"… You sure it wasn't Scott?"

Jack's smile went from sarcastic to genuine. He mentally apologized to whichever S-name it was, wherever they were now, for the joke at their expense before he pulled Jane back into a hug. "You have my back, I have yours, remember? Have a little faith that I won't be fooled that easy about your loyalty, huh?"

Jane sighed, remembering her own, near-identical words to Sawyer just a few minutes ago. She pressed closer to him.

Jack hesitated. "Hey, did they give you some sort of free reign? Do you know where Sawyer and Kate are? Are they okay?"

Jane nodded. "They're fine. Kate's okay. Sawyer got literally shocked a couple of times is all."

"… Is he okay?"

Jane looked up and arched an eyebrow.

Jack smiled. "What? Four against… however many Others there are is better than three… especially being that you're ready to kill Kate on your own. If Sawyer's down, that's a lot of missing muscle. But if you're… in this little circle, whether you like it or not-"

"About that…" Jane sighed.

Jack's smile dropped. "What is it?"

"The deal Ben and I struck… I… ruled it null and void when one of Ben's guys attacked Sawyer. After seeing you, my 'free reign' is gone. I'm gonna get tossed in a cage with Kate."

Jack arched an eyebrow.

Jane sighed. "Long story. I'm not talking, like, wrestling cages. There are literally cages around here."

Jack frowned. "Then rearrange it."

Jane glanced at him. "What?"

"Rearrange the deal. Try to talk Ben into reinstating you. They really need you if they worked something out in the first place."

"And inspire that asshole Danny to use Sawyer as a punching bag? No! How the Hell do I know he won't go after you instead? They know I'm not a fan of Kate, but they know you two are the ones I care about most here. They're playing with that. I don't want them to."

Jack sighed. "Fair enough. Alright, just… be careful. If you can find a way to keep in contact with me, jump on it."

Jane nodded. "I will. Promise." It was her turn to initiate the last hug, and then she headed for the door. She knocked a couple of times and waited.

When Juliet was the one to open the door, Jane managed to hide her disdain. She merely nodded, and the two were off to the cages. Now her issue was managing not to squabble with the woman she couldn't stand as it was, who didn't seem as open to the idea that she had been with them the whole time than the men were. She started to formulate an argument in her head as they walked, and had come up with several, in which half of them ended with either her or Kate being punched out. Juliet unlocked the door and let Jane in. The cop offered the other woman a weak, tight lipped smile and simply hoped for the best.


	3. Chapter 3

**David: To your first point- yeah, it's a little bit of both, but with a lot of renditions I've read with Lost, all OCs basically take a liking to Kate and hold onto that liking. I wanted to take a step away from that norm. With your second point, maybe I didn't make it clear in the prequel to this or didn't have it, but it's kind of a suspension-of-belief thing that after the ordeal with their Captain they got kicked around from place to place until Kevin found someone in the Dade P.D that was willing to hold onto them. As far as sticking with canon, I'm gonna hold to it as much as I can, with the exception of certain points, obviously. I've edited my original plan several times as well, time has gone on so the fic would avoid being too… out there, I guess? That's a horrible phrase for it, but.. yeah.**

**To everyone else: Glad you all like this and are sticking with me. It makes me all the happier. **

**An update should be up in the next couple of days if I don't get swamped with work like I did this last week.  
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><p>Jane glanced down at her hands, having run out of things to look at other than Kate. She could sense all the questions coming. It was only a matter of time before the other woman broke. She looked at Sawyer, who looked away from her and at Kate, as if waiting for the same explosion.<p>

"… So what did they promise you?" Kate finally asked.

Jane flinched. There it was. "Look. Sure, I worked with them, but… not 'early on', okay? I had to start a few days ago. They had my sister, and they…" She sighed. "They got me into some… observation room and… had someone on screen ready to shoot him." She nodded at Sawyer. "I wasn't gonna let them hurt anyone else on our side." She replied. "I had to…" She added. She noticed Kate's unconvinced frown an returned it with a frown of her own. "Kate, come on. You and I don't see eye to eye anymore, I know that. I've given you reason to hate me- dislike me, in the least, but after the time spent here… have I ever given you reason not to _trust_ me?"

Kate frowned, but looked down. " 'Til now? None." Her eyes flicked back to Jane's.

Jane nodded. "Then trust me now. Please. Can we put our issue with Kevin aside, even just for now? Dealing with that between us isn't going to help us get out of here."

"Who the Hell's Kevin? Your partner, Kevin?" Sawyer cut in.

"Shut up, Sawyer." Kate snapped. She turned her attention back to Jane. "Fine… but if you end up crossing us…"

"Yeah, I know…" Jane rolled her eyes.

"Aw, come on, you two don't duke it out to get the fighting over with?" Sawyer asked. "Disappointin' men everywhere."

"We've done enough of the first bit for a while." Jane deadpanned. She let silence pass for a while, and then sighed. "Is Gabby okay?"

"She's fine last we checked, Copper. Just worried about you."

"Claire?"

"Same," Kate cut in.

Jane sighed. "Jack's okay. He was somewhere in the compound with me."

While Kate looked relieved, Sawyer looked fairly annoyed at the report.

They all turned when they heard footsteps coming their way. Danny and three Others came out of the shelter of the trees and over to the cages. "Ford, Austen. Time for work."

"What about her?" Sawyer asked, jerking his head in Jane's direction.

"She ain't coming. Ben doesn't want her getting hurt n' case we need 'er again." Danny snapped. "Now let's go." He ordered. He stopped unlocking Sawyer's cage when a voice came from the walkie-talkie at his side. He walked away, trying to receive the message that the rest of the gathered people didn't hear.

A couple of moments later, Ben and Juliet came running from where Danny and the others had come from. Another group hauling a stretcher with someone on it appeared a moment later, and they all ran off in the opposite direction.

The caged trio waited a few seconds. "What happened?" Kate asked. She looked at Jane.

Jane shrugged. "News to me." She replied.

"We happened." Sawyer countered.

"What?" Kate asked.

"Been on this rock long enough to realize they ain't in the business of shooting each other." He smirked and looked in the direction that the Others had done. "We did it- our team."

"Are you smiling?" Kate demanded with a disgusted grimace.

"Damn right I'm smiling… 'cause we just got our ticket outta here."

"How so?" Jane asked. "Danny looked… beyond pissed. That was… this isn't gonna end well for us, I can tell."

Sawyer laughed. "Come on, Copper. Use your cop brain. They get angry, they're gonna break us lose to take it out on us. They take it out on us, they get angrier. They get angrier, they get sloppy. They get sloppy, we get an advantage." Sawyer replied, raising his eyebrows. "We are in the clear, Ladies. We're gonna go back soon."

While Kate looked thoughtful, Jane just arched an eyebrow and leaned back. "Good luck with that," she mused "I've had enough of him waving a gun in my face, so I'll sit this one out."

"Suit yourself, Darlin'." Sawyer countered.

"I am."

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, the women looked over to see Sawyer fiddling with levers on the machine in the cage, and put a rock somewhere out of sight.<p>

"What're you doing?" Kate asked. When Sawyer didn't respond, she sighed. "Fill us in any time now."

"Hush up, I'm thinking." Sawyer snapped. He continued to pace, then pressed the red button with painted silverware on it on the machine. He tossed a rock, which hit one of the levers, and the machine buzzed to life, uttering 'Warning', and then 'Reward' a couple of times. Music started up, and a small pink object came out of a slot, followed by what looked like dog food, and then water came out of a pipe.

The women exchanged looks before looking back at the sight to behold, then at Sawyer.

He shrugged. "You know that chick they brought in on a stretcher?"

Jane frowned. She knew that look in his eye. "Sawyer, please don't go plotting anything stupid."

"Hell with that. 'Course I'm planning something. That chick is Broken Nose Man's girl."

"They call him Pickett." Kate cut in.

"Danny, yeah…" Jane nodded.

"Well, Pickett is distracted at the moment."

"So…?" Kate asked.

Sawyer reached up to get a large branch on top of the machine. "Watch and learn, Little Lady." He poked the food button with the branch, and the sound of electricity coursing through it was heard over the automated voice. He looked back at them. "There's juice pumping into this box from somewhere. Next time someone comes to pull me out, I'm gonna wait until they step into my little swimming hole. Then I grab them, Zap! They fall back from the shock, I grab the keys."

"Are you trying to get yourself- and us, killed?" Jane arched an eyebrow.

"Last I checked that was a plan to get us outta here." Sawyer replied.

Jane sighed. "Listen, Sawyer. I don't… these people… You guys know they're dangerous by now. The thing is, I've been with them for a while. They're at least three times the dangerous we've seen. If you're right, and one of us did that to Danny's wife, that's enough. If we try again, we are beyond screwed. They will kill us- Hell, they might even set up a firing squad."

"Not to mention you would both get electrocuted." Kate pointed out.

Sawyer snorted. "I've taken the shock before. It's fine."

Jane gripped the bars tightly and leaned against them. "Sawyer, look at me." When he didn't, she repeated the request more firmly, and he obeyed. "Please don't do this. Believe me or not, I managed to get you guys out of trouble a couple of times. You do this, I won't be able to help you." Jane replied.

"And what about Jack?" Kate interrupted. "We can't just leave him."

"We'll figure it out." Jane replied, then looked at Sawyer. "After we find another way." She added.

"Once again, Hell to the no, Sweetheart."

* * *

><p>Jane glanced up from the doodle she was making on the stone slab she was sitting on using another rock when she heard the door to the compound open. She glanced over and her heart skipped a beat when she realized it was Ben. She glanced over to Sawyer, who glanced at her and smirked. She bit her bottom lip and shook her head as little as possible. <em>Not him. Anyone but him.<em> She waited, then closed her eyes when Ben stopped right in front of the puddle. Don't move. God, you deserve to die, but not now.

"Lunch already?" Sawyer quipped to Ben.

"What do you weigh?" Ben asked.

Sawyer made a face. "What?"

Ben looked over his shoulder. "Jane, police have a gift with that- what would you say Mister Ford weighs?"

"How the Hell should I know?" Jane shot back. She looked at Kate, who looked as puzzled as she did.

Ben, however, didn't back down. He looked at Sawyer. "What. Do. You. Weigh?"

Sawyer sighed. "One-eighty, give or take."

Ben stepped forward, and Jane had to swallow the squeak that nearly left her throat_. No, no, no! _However, he didn't move another step. "How old are you?"

Sawyer shrugged. "Thirty two."

"Don't lie." Ben practically purred.

Sawyer scoffed and shook his head. "Thirty five.

Ben nodded, then looked down. "Good." He stepped directly in the puddle as he started to open the man's cage.

The next couple of seconds felt like hours for Jane. She scooted back, watching Sawyer lunge for Ben and grab his arm, keeping him there. He kicked back, hitting the food button. A couple of tries later, and nothing happened. He tried a couple of more times, and then when he realized his plan wasn't working, he yanked Ben forward again. "What did you do?"

"We turned it off." Ben replied. A moment later, his other hand came up, holding a flashlight. He rammed Sawyer hard in the face with it, and the other man went sprawling back.

"Sawyer!" Kate and Jane called.

Ben sighed. "Next time when you try and convince your friends not to do anyting stupid, Jane…" He looked at her. "Try harder." He opened Sawyer's cage, and a baton fell from his right sleeve. He headed inside and proceeded to beat Sawyer with it.

Jane and Kate watched as the beatdown continued. When the cop saw that Kate was about to voice her protest to it, she held out her hand. "No, let it happen. Sawyer tried, now Ben's beating him. It's a sick eye for an eye thing." She instructed.

Kate looked at her like she was insane, but said nothing all the same. The two women continued to look on, slowly realizing that Ben had knocked out Sawyer somewhere in the process. The man knelt down, grabbed Sawyer's legs and started to drag him out of the cell.

"Hey!" Now that got Jane's attention. "Didn't Danny tell you-"

"Well, that agreement was put in danger when his wife got shot." Ben replied, still dragging Sawyer.

"I was stuck here!" Jane snapped.

Ben shrugged. "He and I did some negotiations of our own. It's not my fault you didn't bother to ask them."

Jane gawked at him for a while, then slammed her fist against one of the bars, ignoring the pain. "You son of a bitch!" She called to the retreating man. When Ben made no effort to reply, she turned back around and cradled her wrist with her unharmed hand. "Damn it…"

"Where are they taking him?" Jane asked.

"I don't know." Jane replied.

"You said you were in there-"

"Yeah, I wasn't granted the grand tour, Kate. I was put in two rooms, I had a hallway, and then there was Jack's room. I have no idea where they could be taking him." Jane snapped. "I'm as worried as you are right now."

A silence passed for a few minutes, and then Kate was the first to break it, figuring silence wasn't going to aid in their worry. Granted, it wasn't the best subject, but it was the only one that could keep them talking- or yelling. "Jane… about Kevin…" She began.

Jane tensed up, then subconsciously brought two fingers up to toy with the locket around her neck. "…I thought we agreed not to talk about this." Jane pointed out.

"It needs to be said." Kate countered.

"Hasn't it already?" Jane asked.

"Jane, please…" Kate sighed. "I need you to listen this time. I get it, you were… beyond mad the first time. I would've been, too… but… I wasn't kidding. I did love him, I swear to you. That's what I did what I did. I drugged him because I thought it would knock him out and give him a good alibi so it wasn't proof he… helped me out. I didn't expect… I never wanted…"

"What color are his eyes?"

"What?" Kate frowned.

"What color… are his eyes?" Jane raised her eyebrows and looked at her.

Kate hesitated, then went with it. "Blue."

"His worst fear?" Jane asked.

Kate licked her lips, then sighed. "Losing his family, or you, or me, the last I was with him."

Jane swallowed hard, trying to fight back the tears that were already starting to form. "Dream pet?"

Kate half-heartedly chuckled. "A retired K-9 Unit dog."

"What's his tell?"

Kate looked away, considering the question. "He'd always scratch the back of his hand, then elbow."

Jane smiled and let out a second's worth of a laugh, more at the memory of him doing just than more than anything. She swallowed hard. "Right again. Favorite holiday and why."

"Memorial Day," Kate replied. "He always said it was weird, but… he always had his friends and family over for that big barbeque, and there was this… ridiculous song that he used to teach all the kids and have him sing, about… Frankie the Firework and Manny the Monument…" Kate laughed again. "He would always get in the middle of the group of kids and make sure they were singing, and if they weren't, he'd sing in their face and act like an idiot until they were too busy laughing or they'd join in…" She finished. She glanced at the other woman to see that she was starting to fail to hold back the tears. Jane was biting down hard on her lip and blinking rapidly, turning away from her. However, the blonde was still nodding 'yes'. And then it hit her. The questions had gone from simple observations to specifics- specifics about little things that post people probably wouldn't notice- not if they didn't care about the person enough to do so. She wanted to say something, but thought against it. She had given her answers, and apparently that was enough for the other woman for the moment. She'd leave her alone for now.

* * *

><p>When Tom emerged from the compound, leading Sawyer behind him, the women shot up and went over to the bars. "Sawyer? Sawyer, are you okay?"<p>

Sawyer didn't respond at all. He merely let Tom shove him back into the cage and sat down on the concrete slab.

Tom approached their cage, opened it, and put a bucket of water with a towel in it in the corner. He tossed a couple of dresses over one of the railings. "To clean yourselves up. If any of that don't fit, you just give a holler."

When Kate made no reponse, Jane looked at Tom and offered a tight-lipped smile and a nod. There was no sense in starting anything.

Tom left, and the girls turned their attention back to Sawyer. "What happened?" Kate asked. "What'd they do to you?"

"Nothin'. They just asked me questions." Sawyer replied. He looked down. "Ain't important."

Kate sighed. "Talk to us. What… happened?"

"I told you." Sawyer snapped.

"We know when you're lying, Sawyer. Tell us. If you're worried you're gonna scare us, we've been through enough to know we won't." Jane replied. Kate nodded in agreement.

"I said nothing_, Jane_, so quit askin'." Sawyer snapped.

Jane wasn't one to miss the fact that he had used her name. The last time he had done that, she had gotten hit over the head seconds later and woke up in that room. Was that some way of telling her that something clearly had happened? "Sawyer…"

He just shook his head.

Jane sighed and glanced over at Kate, who was going for one of the dresses. She leaned back. "If you're looking to change, you may wanna go further into the corner. They have cameras everywhere." She suggested.

Kate looked at her, then looked around. She nodded after a minute, then looked at Sawyer. "Turn around."

Sawyer glared at her, then groaned and did as he was asked.

Jane went over to the towel and went to work rubbing the dirt off her face. She was perfectly fine in her jeans and tank top. There was no way she was going to wear a dress in any case when they were on the Island anyway.

A few seconds later, a beeping started up from Sawyer's direction. The girls turned. "What was that?"

Sawyer shook his head. "Just my watch. It's busted."

"When did you get a watch?" Kate asked.

Sawyer turned sharply. "Look, I don't tell you everything!" He yelled. "Just leave me alone, damn it…. And put some clothes on."

Kate looked at Jane, who shrugged. The brunette finished putting her shirt on, and Jane tossed water into her hair and ran her fingers through it quickly. Jane turned when she heard metal clang against rock from Sawyer's cage and frowned, seeing he had dumped the whole thing on himself. _The Hell…? _When Sawyer caught her looking, he glared at her and tossed his hands out. Jane rolled her eyes, but continued to observe. What the Hell did they do to you?

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><p>Jane was roused from the light sleep she had managed to get when Kate spoke, trying to get Sawyer to hear.<p>

"I've been looking at my cage, and I think if I climb to the top, I can squeeze through those bars. They're spaced further apart up there."

"What did I tell you? They have eyes everywhere. They'll see you." Jane objected.

Sawyer nodded at her. "What she said. Don't bother."

"What're you talking about?" Kate asked.

"I'm talking about being smart. I think we should just chill out here for a while, get the lay of the land."

Kate looked at Jane for support again, and she just shrugged. "Hey, I want to get out as much as you two, and you've been here longer, but… now's not the time."

"Then when will it be the time?" Kate countered.

"I don't know…" Jane shook her head. She looked up when alarms sounded from the megaphones in the corners. "What is it now?" She muttered. The doors opened, and a group of Others came out- with Jack in the center of them.

The three scrambled to their feet and followed along the Others' path as much as the cages allowed, screaming Jack's name in the process. Jack stopped at one point, but was wrestled onward by Juliet, right into another part of the compound.

Kate looked at her companions. "What're they…" She frowned. "The woman. They're making him operate or something."

"That's my guess, too." Jane nodded. Sawyer grunted his own approval. They all sat down uneasily, just waiting and hoping that it would end okay for their leader.


	4. Chapter 4

A steady rain had started to fall as the group waited. The silence between them was near deafening. Out of habit, Jane was the first to hear the metallic swing of the door to the compound opening and closing. When they all took note of it, their hearts sunk when they didn't see the large group from before. It was just Danny, and he was looking murderous.

No stranger to the look, Jane hesitantly got to her feet. "Something went very, very wrong in there…"

"Do you think that woman didn't make it?" Kate asked.

"Chances are," Jane nodded. Her curious look dropped to one of concern when Danny approached Sawyer's cage and unlocked it. Sawyer seemed to sense the incoming danger, because he started to back up, quickening his pace when Danny practically threw himself through the door and at Sawyer. He grabbed Sawyer roughly by the arm and twisted it before dragging him out of the cage. He tossed Sawyer against Jane and Kate's cage and proceeded to punch him in the stomach, sending him further back against the bars.

"Hey!" Kate called, running over to them.

Jane looked around frantically. Danny was off the handle at this rate. The only way they could get back at him was retaliation- but what was there to be used? She turned back to Danny and Sawyer and watched the man continue to punch Sawyer in the face, chest, shoulder- whatever landed in the vicinity of his fist. "Danny!" She called. When that only earned Sawyer a harder punch, she repeated his name again to no avail. The odd beeping started up again, but seemed to go unnoticed. Kate glanced at her quickly, trying to see if she had a plan before she looked at Danny, stock still from fear. Jane turned around sharply. She had been trying to move a large branch that must've come off a tree during a storm, where the Hell was that? She spotted it in the corner nearest her. Her breath caught in her throat and worked up a plan that would either work, or probably get her killed- or both. She glanced back at Danny. It had to be timed perfectly if she wanted it to work out okay. When Danny pulled his shoulder back to set up another punch, Jane practically dove for the branch. She got back on her feet and thrust it through the two bars to Sawyer's right. By some miracle, the timing worked, and Danny managed to stop himself from swinging his arm- and subsequently impaling his upper torso on the split branch.

The look Jane got for the retaliation seemed twice as murderous than it had mere seconds ago. "You really wanna use a stick to take on a gun?" He growled.

"Worked fine just now." Jane replied coldly. She looked at Sawyer. The man's face was bloodied, and there was no question he was going to be bruised. She looked back at Danny. Fine. She could play this game, too. "Your wife didn't make it, did she?" She asked.

"The Hell do you think?" Danny demanded.

"I think you're going after the wrong man, then." Jane shot back. She knew she was endangering Jack with that, but from what she understood, Jack was supposed to be untouchable by Ben's orders.

Danny scowled. "Then who the Hell do you suggest? Your people just killed my wife?"

"And yours haven't killed some of our wives? Our husbands? Our kids?" Jane demanded. "You killed more than we have- you killed because you could. We killed because you attacked!" The image of Ethan and her fight from what seemed like years ago flashed in her mind, and just fueled her sudden anger. She fought the anger back. "Look, I get it. I was just as angry, just as lost when I thought I lost one of my sisters, then you took the other one. Did I go on some rampage, beating the shit out of the first person on your team that I saw? No! Violence is not gonna solve this! Ben said you wanted us off his Island. We would go if we had the means- and weren't terrified that you bastards weren't gonna come and attack us every damn night! We're far from even, Danny! You think adding another body to the list of people you Others killed is gonna change things?"

Danny scoffed. "No, but you know what? It'll sure as Hell justify my wife's death." Danny replied. Before Jane could even register what he had said he pulled out his gun and aimed it squarely at Sawyer.

Jane risked a glance at Kate when the woman yelped and knelt beside Sawyer, putting his arms around his shoulders protectively. She looked back at Danny. New approach. Time was a-wasting. "Then fine, you want one of our lives for your wife's? Then point the damn gun at me!"

"Jane…" Kate went wide-eyed and looked up at her.

"Shut up, Kate." Jane snapped. She looked Danny in the eye. "Come on. Sawyer's an annoyance to everyone. He clocked you with the gun and took some verbal jabs at you. So what? Who was the one who did more of the verbal jabs, huh? Hell, I'm pretty sure I did more damage to you when Jack flooded the place and you tried to grab me."

"Hm, good point." Danny nodded.

A moment later, Jane found herself staring down the barrel of his gun. She tried not to swallow hard as she started panicking on the inside. She had expected at least a couple of seconds of hesitation or at least putting the gun down first. She heard him turn off the safety on the gun, and she started to regret her stint at thrilling heroics.

"Jane…?" Sawyer coughed.

Jane glanced down at Sawyer when she realized that it wasn't 'Copper' or any of the like that had come out of his mouth. She reached over and touched his shoulder, then looked at Danny again. He still looked angry, but it seemed like sadness was creeping into the cracks there. She tried again. "Then again, is this really gonna help you? Just… nonstop violence between your people and mine? A death for a death, every time?" She leaned forward, causing alarms to go off in her head afterwards, screaming that she had merely given him a better shot if he didn't fall into this. "… Do you really think that your wife would like to see you become a cold-blooded murderer from her place Upstairs, now? Doesn't seem like you're the kind of guy that would marry someone who would be happy about that." She sighed. "Let her be the last, Danny. Let it be so she didn't die for nothing- that she didn't die because of these… circumstances."

Danny frowned, and although his grip loosened on the gun, he kept it at her forehead. "And how the Hell can I trust that you people would adhere to that?"

"You leave us alone, we'll be happy to not go looking for you." Jane replied. She searched for more ideas to throw into the agreement. "If that doesn't help, then fine. You keep me alive, when we get out of here, you have my word that no matter what happens- whether it's paths crossing or what, that if I am present when one of your people are around mine, and their lives are in danger, I will protect them and make sure they're sent back to you people alive and well." She finished. She wondered if Danny could tell her heart was beating so fast she could barely hear herself think, let alone talk. "Come on… end this. Let your wife be the last.

Danny looked torn. After a few seconds, he clenched his jaw, then exhaled sharply. "If you cross us, I will finish this."

Jane remained silent.

Danny let his arm with the gun drop. He looked at the three of them before biting his lip. He paced a few times in a small line before he took Sawyer, picked him up and shoved him into the girls' cage. He slammed the cage door shut and stormed back into the compound.

The second the door shut, Jane let her knees give way. She tried to support herself with her arms, but even they were wobbly. She let out a sharp exhale and turned back around. She let a second pass before she brought her knees up to her chest and promptly rested her forehead between them.

"How'd you know he would go for that?" Kate asked after a moment.

"I didn't," came Jane's muffled reply.

"So you…?" Kate began, then realization sunk in. "You were actually gonna let him shoot you instead of Sawyer."

"Yeah. Damn cop nature and all that." Jane replied. She had no idea how her subconscious was allowing humor at that moment, but she was grateful. She glanced at Sawyer, who, like her, had ended up settled in a heap against the bars. She scooted over to him. "Hey, you… relatively okay?"

"As I could be, Copper." Sawyer panted.

Jane let out a weak snort and leaned looked up before exhaling sharply. "The things I do for you."

"Hey, that is the Deputy's job." Sawyer pointed out before easing himself into a lying down position. He rested his head on her upper thigh, then patted her knee. "Promise me one thing, 5-0?"

"Mm?" Jane looked down at him.

"You know, I'd never expect I'd be grateful about the cop thing like I am, but… never go super cop like that to save my skin again." Sawyer muttered.

Jane laughed, then ruffled his hair, trying to get as much of it out of his face as she could afterward. "I'll try not to."

Sawyer hummed his approval, and within a few seconds of that, his head slid a short distance down her thigh, and his breathing slowed.

Kate walked over to them. "Is he okay?"

Jane sighed. "Hope so. Danny didn't harm him enough to give him a concussion- I think- hope, really. I think it's just his body shutting down after that."

Kate looked around, then licked her lips. "What do you think he's hiding from us? What could the Others have done to get him so spooked?"

"I wish I knew." Jane replied. "Like I said, I barely saw the operation and… basically what were prison cells and a couple of observation rooms. Nothing more."

Kate crossed her arms. "He didn't fight back." She pointed out.

Jane raised her eyebrows. "You noticed that too, huh?"

Kate hesitated, but when she realized Jane wasn't being sarcastic, she nodded. "… I'm scared- of this- of what he's hiding- everything, now."

Jane laughed weakly. "You wanna know a secret?" She asked. When Kate frowned at her, she shrugged. "So am I." She admitted. She looked down at Sawyer, then something caught her memory. She glanced at the wrist with his watch on it. "Well, at least now we can see what the Hell the watch is about." She lifted his arm, then put it so his wrist was draped over her knee. She leaned over to get a better look at the object on it.

"It went off when he was being beaten." Kate reminded her.

"That's because it's not a damn watch at all." Jane replied, glancing at her. "It's a heart monitor…"

"Heart monitor?" Kate breathed, then looked at Sawyer. "What did they do to you?"

"Guess we'll just have to keep asking 'til he tells us." Jane replied.

"But he won't. It's impossible."

Jane smirked, then looked at her. "Well, since when has 'impossible' stopped any of us since we've gotten here, huh?" He replied. "Hell, we happen to live by the impossible these days."

"Guess you have a point, there." Kate nodded.

Jane nodded as well. "Just… let's give him time to sleep this off, then we'll see what we can do."

"Sounds like a plan."


	5. Chapter 5

_Jane gave a couple of glances around the hospital wing she was in. She had almost forgotten how much she hated being in one. _

_Everything smelled too clean, there were tired, sad faces all around, and the white walls seemed too prestine and bright for such a place. That was part of the reason her cross-country trips to see Kevin had dropped from every month to every couple of months This visit, only a month since the last one, however, was different. _

_She saw the doorway into his room, then frowned when a thin brunette woman wearing a leather jacket, jeans a long shirt, sunglasses came out of it. She offered a tight-lipped smile that the woman didn't return, then slipped inside the room. She walked over to the nightstand and tossed the dying flowers in the trash bin before replacing them with the new ones she had brought._

_"Ugh, Kev. You probably hate people bringing you flowers, huh? You were never one for them." She looked at her partner's still body in the bed. "Well, guess you're gonna have to make an exception, huh?" She took a seat in the chair beside the table. She looked back at him, then looked down at her friends. "Sam, Gene and the rest of the boys really miss you. Ray told me to tell you Chris lost another bet against him. The guy's losing his touch when you're not there to coach them… Hell, they're lost without you and I in general- Sam's words exactly." She sighed again. "So, I'm taking that trip that you suggested a while back- gonna be gone for a while- two trips here, as it would be, so I'm doing this now to see you…" She looked back up at him once more, then looked out the window, laughed weakly, and shook her head. She reached over and put her hand over his. "You better not wake up the day I leave or right after. If you do I'll have to find out and then end up putting you right back in the hospital." She laughed again, then felt bad about the joke a moment later. "The first thing I do when I get back and get enough money is come back to see you. I promise." She got up, brushed his hair back from his forehead, then kissed it. "Hang in there, Partner. I'll miss you." She pushed off of his bedside, then made for a quick exit._

* * *

><p>The next morning, the girls woke to one of the food machines going off. They groaned in protest, then saw that Sawyer was in his own cage. They glanced at each other, wondering why that was, but were in no mood to start asking questions yet. They already had a big one to worry about.<p>

"Hey," Kate offered a greeting to him.

Sawyer glanced over his shoulder. "Hey yourself."

"What're you doing?" Kate asked.

"Throwin' rocks." Sawyer replied simply.

"I thought you had to pull a lever." Kate pointed out.

"I know how to get a damn fish biscuit." Sawyer snapped.

Jane sighed. "We're still open for you to tell us what the Hell happened, Man."

"Yeah? I ain't, so quit when you're ahead." Sawyer replied. After a moment, he sighed. "Lemme guess, next thing you know you're gonna ask for one of 'em to keep me feelin' productive so I don't go on a downward spiral."

Jane blinked. "Well, we're not shrinks, so we wouldn't go that far, but yeah, any food sounds good right about now."

Kate hummed her agreement.

Sawyer muttered something under his breath, then set everything up to get the buscuits. Once he did, he tossed them over, then went back to the corner of his cage and sat down.

The girls looked at each other and shrugged before starting to eat in silence.

A few minutes passed, and the three looked up when the compound door opened. Tom stepped through, smiling his usual smile. "Where's our little negotiating bargaining chiiipppp?" He sing-songed.

Jane groaned. "What is it now?"

Tom shrugged, then went over to their cage door and opened it. "Your boyfriend's starting trouble again." He replied.

Jane shook her head. "Fine. What is Ben forcing him to do this time?"

Sawyer scoffed. "So I call the Doc your boyfriend and you complain, then this asshat calls him your boyfriend and you don't care?" He called.

"Not the time." Jane deadpanned. "Alright, take me. It's not like I have a choice." Jane arched an eyebrow at Tom.

Tom merely smiled. "Good girl! You're learnin'!" He stepped to the side and extended one arm towards the compound door, then put the other behind her back. "After you,"

Jane looked back at Kate and Sawyer. "What about them?"

Tom shrugged. "Danny'll come by to take Kate to work. Sawyer has a day off after that wreck from yesterday. You really wanna be around here when he shows up? He told me what happened."

Jane raised her eyebrows. "Alright, point taken."

Tom smirked, then motioned at the compound again.

Jane sighed. "You know, Danny and my agreement is null and void if any of you hurt my people. I'll find a way out and return the favor."

"Yeah, yeah. We're shakin' in our boots. Now come on." Tom insisted. "Time's a-wasting."

Jane sighed, then headed for the compound with one more look over her shoulder at her companions.

* * *

><p>Jane was annoyed to find that Juliet met them halfway when they got into the compound. She still favored the man over the woman, even if she distrusted them equally. She knew she could take Tom. Juliet, however, was a mystery. "Alright, what's going on?" She asked after a few moments of silence.<p>

"We'll have Jack explain everything. Just go through here." Juliet instructed, opening a door.

Jane arched her eyebrows and stepped through, sighing in relief when she saw Jack on the other side of the glass panel, unharmed. She turned until Juliet had closed the door, then approached the divider. "Hey, you alright?"

Jack nodded. "What about you? Kate? Sawyer?"

"All fine. Well, Sawyer just got beat- again, but… that's typical." Jane replied.

Jack smiled. "Yeah, heard about that. Also heard that you basically told the guy to shoot you instead of Sawyer."

Jane's smile faded. "Hey, that better not be jealousy I hear. I woulda done it for you- woulda done it for any of us. Live together, die alone, remember?"

Jack laughed. "Yeah, I remember. I said it. And don't worry. It wasn't. I was just worried about you and your thrilling heroics. Do me a favor, don't do that again."

Jane snorted, but chose not to point out Sawyer had said the same thing. "You got it, as long as these guys behave. So tell me, why did I get dragged back here for? What did you do?"

Jack raised his eyebrows. "It's what I'm not doing that has you back here." He replied.

Jane frowned. "… Can I get some elaboration?"

Jack ran his hand down his face. "Ben has this bad tumor on his spine… if it's not operated on yesterday, then he dies very, very soon."

Jane scoffed and crossed her arms. "Convenient for him with your profession."

"You're telling me," Jack agreed. "Point is I haven't said yes or no to the operation, and chances are they're gonna start waving a gun around at you if I keep it up or start leaning towards a definite 'no'."

Jane sighed and rested her shoulder on the glass. "You gonna do it, then?"

"I still don't know." Jack replied. After a few seconds, he swallowed hard. "How tight is security on you three?"

"Pretty tight. It doesn't help that the guy who had a gun to my head wants to kill Sawyer and I- even if he wants to kill Sawyer more just 'cause."

Jack laughed again. "Well, can't blame him for that."

Jane tilted her head. "Come on, cut the guy some slack. Danny only hates him because Sawyer's been giving him Hell, vouching for us. I've said it before- he has his moments. He's not all bad- Hell, put Sawyer next to Ben and the idiot becomes an angel."

Jack shook his head, then rested his forehead on the glass. "I don't want to- God, there are thousands of other bad things I would do before this, but… I have to do this, don't I? Trick or not, you guys are gonna get hurt if I don't."

Jane shrugged, then moved in closer to the glass. "That's your choice, Jack. I'm not the surgeon, I'm just the human guilt trip."

Jack closed his eyes. "Well, it's definitely working."

Jane tilted her head. "Do you want it to?"

Jack opened his eyes and tossed his hands up. "I have to let it," He replied. "These people mean business, which means if I say no, I lose you first- there's no doubt in my mind about that. Hell, if they don't go after you and they go after Sawyer, I still lose part of you if he goes. Even with Kate, part of the both of us will go- I don't want that to happen. Live together, die alone- let's keep to that first part."

Jane took a deep breath. "You sure?"

Jack tossed his hands up in defeat again. "Yeah. Now, go tell them, before I change my mind."

Jane nodded, then put her hand to the glass.

Jack put his own on it in front of hers, then jerked his head towards the door. "Go. I'll be fine. Promise. Tell them tomorrow morning, and we can negotiate later."

Jane turned and left without another word, afraid of losing her will to leave him if she stayed longer. She knocked on the door. "Open up, we're done!"

A couple of moments later, Juliet opened the door. "Well,"

"He'll do it tomorrow morning. Terms get named later."

Juliet nodded. "Fair enough." She nodded right, down the hallway. "I trust you can get back to your ld room if you get to that fork."

Jane paused to wonder why Juliet was apparently giving her free reign, even with the set destination. However, she wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. "I'll sure as Hell try." She deadpanned. She walked over to the fork, and sure enough, the path became familiar. She made it to her old cell and collapsed onto the cot, immediately starting to chart the things that could go wrong and right come the next morning.

* * *

><p>The free reign didn't last. The next morning, Tom had come in to retrieve Jane. He guided her into a room that reminded her of one of the observation rooms back home at the precinct, being that a giant window took up a good portion of the wall. A few seconds later, she found out why. The room overlooked the operating room- and Jack was down below, preparing Ben, along with Juliet and another man. "Fantastic…" She sighed. She turned when the door opened again, and her heart sunk when Danny came through the door.<p>

The man made eye contact with her, looked just about as thrilled as she did, and then practically marched to the other side of the room.

Jane stared down at her feet. "Just… goddamn… fantastic."

A few minutes later, Jack visibly cut into Ben. Jane flinched away, just in time to see Danny look at one of the Others who had joined them and say, "Let's go" before they turned and headed back down the stairs leading to the door. Out of experience of knowing Danny's personality and adherence to agreements, Jane's heart sunk. She looked at Tom. "Where are they going?"

Tom made a face. "How the Hell should I know?"

"Where. Are. They. Going?" Jane demanded. "Is he going after Sawyer and Kate? If he is, I swear to God-"

"And maybe he's just squeamish with blood, Janie. Take it easy." Tom countered.

"Take it- A, stop calling me Janie. B, you would be in the same boat as I would be if roles were reversed and you were convinced one of mine were going after one of yours. C, Knowing Danny and Sawyer's track record, there's no doubt in my mind about what he's about to do."

Tom gave a heavy, dramatic sigh, then drew his gun and pointed it at her. "I really didn't wanna do this to you. I told you I liked you. Hell, this should've been at your hip the second you got in here, but I thought you were gonna play nice. If that's not the case, I'm sorry, but we have to do it this way." He finished. However, the confident look he had dropped when he heard heavy, mechanical beeping coming from the speaker in the corner. "The Hell…?"

The pair of them looked down at the procedure, only to see everyone below was frantic over something. The second Other that was down below asked if Ben should be 'bleeding like that.' Almost immediately Jack replied that he shouldn't, right before picking up one of the metal trays and slamming it against the man's face.

Jane glanced over at Tom, making sure he was too stunned by the change of events to pay attention to his gun. She made a grab for it, and succeeded. She pointed it squarely at him, and them smiled innocently when Tom gawked at her, then looked back at the sight below, then back at her. Jane shrugged. "Well, Tommy, let's think about something for a sec. I took out your buddy Ethan's kneecap with one of these not too long ago. I consider that 'not playing nice'." She mused, then took the safety on the gun. "You wanna complain about me not playing nice now?"

Tom shook his head put his hands up in surrender, then looked back down at Jack and the others.

Jack was looking up at them now. "Can you hear me in there?"

Tom managed to tear his eyes away from Jane and nodded at Jack. "Yeah!"

Jack nodded. "Good. Jane, that his gun?"

"Yep," Jane nodded. "I'm gonna go make sure our mutual friend Danny didn't go break our deal again before I get tempted to pull an Ethan on this guy. You gonna be okay on your own?" She called.

Jack nodded again. "Just fine. Go. I got it handled."

Jane looked at Tom, winked, then tore down the stairs. She made her way outside, and then pushed herself harder to get to the cages. She got out, only to see Sawyer kneeling on the ground, with Danny standing over him, holding a gun to his neck. She used the mud from the rain that had started to fall to her advantage and slid the last four feet to get into range. "HEY!"

Sawyer glanced up at her. "Copper?"

Danny didn't move, but the Other that was with him, holding Kate against the bars set up a shot at Jane and fired. The shot missed my a few inches. Jane fired off her own shot and it clipped one of the bars, embedding itself in the man's arm. He let out a yelp and let go of Kate. Jane turned her gun on Danny. "Hey, you wanna finish what you started? I'd say it's a little fairer now, huh?" She called.

Danny merely growled and started reaching for the trigger. Jane followed suit, until Tom's voice came through on Danny's walkie-talkie.

"_Hey, Danny? You there? Pick up, Danny. Now. Pick it up, damn it!" _

Danny grabbed the walkie-talkie, and Jane took the moment to advance on him so they both had a potential neck shot in common. "I'm here, what?" Danny snarled into the walkie-talkie.

"_You anywhere near the cages?" _

"Yeah, you can say that." Danny nodded.

"_Give your walkie to Kate_." Tom instructed.

"Why the Hell would I do that?" Danny demanded.

" '_Cause if you don't, the dotor's gonna let Ben die_."

Danny turned and glared daggers at Jane. "I knew something had to be up for you to get out so quick."

Jane shrugged. "Hey, you honestly expected me to think you'd keep your end of the deal for more than an hour?"

Danny shook his head, then pressed a button on the walkie talkie. "What's going on? What's that beeping?"

"Just hand her the damn walkie, Danny!" Tom insisted.

Danny looked between Sawyer, the walkie and Jane. Jane raised her eyebrows and her gun, just as Tom demanded for him to hand the walkie over again.

Danny made a face, and then reluctantly passed the walkie talkie over.

Kate grabbed it. "Jack? Jack?"

"… … _Kate? You guys have an hour's head start before they come after you."_ Came Jack's voice.

"Wait, where are you?" Kate asked.

"_You remember what I told you on the beach, the day of the crash? Do you remember what story I told you when you were stitching me up?"_

"Yes, yes I remember!"

"When you get safe, you radio me and you tell me that story."

"Jack, please…" Kate began.

"_If I don't get a call from you in the next hour, I'm gonna know something went wrong AND HE DIES!"_

"We can't leave without you!" Kate objected.

Jane lifted her head slightly. Wait, that's what he was getting at? He was staying and not making a break for it later? Well, that just didn't fly. "Jack?" She called.

"_All of you can. Go."_

"We can't!"

"_Go now!" _

"No!"

"DAMN IT, RUN!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: ... I'm having too much fun writing Tom. I wish I could keep him around, but being that his fate isn't that kind and I'm already saving a someone and playing with the timeline a bit in the future, that can't happen. Ah well.**


	6. Chapter 6

Jane looked at the other two as a silence between the present group as they stared each other down. Kate had pulled the Other who Jane had shot's gun and had slipped it in the side of her jeans, refusing to take chances. "Well, let's get the Hell outta here!"

Kate nodded and headed for the jungle.

Jane turned back to Danny. The temptation to shoot him was almost unbearable now. She snapped out of it when Sawyer put his hand over hers on the gun. She arched an eyebrow at him, and he smiled like he knew what she was thinking. "Hey, I wanna shoot the bastard as much as you do, Darlin', but… let's not get too carried away, huh?" He offered.

Even Danny looked puzzled at the comment.

Sawyer turned his attention to Danny. "Cage, now, _hombre._" Sawyer replied. When Danny scowled at him, he pointed at Jane. "She's the only one with the gun here, Bucko, so do as we say?"

Danny growled again, but retreated into the cage.

"Lock it," Jane ordered.

Danny glared up at her.

Jane raised the gun again.

Danny shook his head, picked up the lock from the ground, and put it through the metal loops that held it.

Jane reached over and tugged on the lock to make sure it was secure, then nodded. "Great," She smiled sarcastically at the man. "Horrible knowing you, Danny. Hope we never see you again." She backed up a couple of feet, then started to push Sawyer towards where Kate was waiting for them. He didn't need much guidance. He backed up so she could lead, then ran after her.

The trio ran for what felt like ages until they saw the number of trees start to go down. They reached the edge of the jungle, then walked to the shore. The girls stared as, a few hundred feet from the shore, there was another island. They looked at Sawyer, who shrugged.

"That's our island?" Kate asked.

"What, you didn't believe me when I told you before?" Sawyer asked.

"We need a boat," Kate noted, heading left along the beach. The other two followed closely at her heels.

"Yeah, a couple of towels and a buffet lunch," Sawyer added sarcastically.

"Hey, if the Others are around here, boats have to be." Jane pointed out. She looked at Kate when she stopped in her tracks and went wide-eyed. "What?" She winced when Kate pulled out her walkie. How could she have forgotten?

"Jack?" Kate asked into the walkie.

"Yeah, yeah I'm here." Jack replied after a moment.

"Are you okay?" Kate asked.

"I'm fine. What about you two?"

Sawyer glared at the walkie accusingly, as if Jack could see the glare. "Three guesses which two he's askin' about-" When Jane gave him a gentle shove to shut him up, he gave her one right back.

Kate sighed. "All three of us are fine." She replied. "We need a boat. We need some way to get off this island."

The three all faced the walkie when they heard Jack demanding something of Tom. They all jerked back when a gunshot rang out. They turned sharply. Another shot rang out, and the walkie exploded in Kate's hands from impact with a bullet. Another second later, Danny and three Others came charging out of the jungle, almost immediately aiming a new gun at them.

Jane sighed. "Well, I hoped." She sighed as she brought her gun up. When Kate went to assist with her own gun, Jane looked at her. "No! He's mine!" She considered poetic justice- another knee shot to go along with the damage she caused Ethan. She shook her head. No. Danny had done worse. A shoulder shot would do- she was better than the headshot she so wanted to do. She fired a shot, barely flinching when it hit between his shoulder and neck.

Danny let out a roar of pain, then raised his gun again. He wasn't as considerate. When she saw he was setting up a headshot, she barked a warning to her friends, then dove to the ground. She fired again and allowed something as close to poetic justice happen, having the bullet skim his upper thigh. It would slow him down, at least. She shot a third time at Danny's backup, who retreated into the jungle. She scrambled to her feet, then turned to Kate and Sawyer. "GO!" She nodded further down the beach, which led to more jungle. They'd have to chance it.

They tore off into the jungle again, ducking gunshots left and right.

"Any idea how many bullets you have left, Xena?" Sawyer called.

"Not a clue!" Jane admitted, skidding to a halt and dodging left when the tree trunk to her right took a bullet and exploded. "That was luck back there, and I don't feel lucky to check now!" She glanced back and spotted Danny's men, and then by some unfair twist, Danny was still hobbling behind them. "Are you kidding me?" She called. "I can't get him from that angle!"

"Give it!" Sawyer called.

Jane tossed the gun to him, and Sawyer grabbed it, firing at one of Danny's men. It hit him square in the chest and he went down.

The three reached a hill and took cover, waiting for the Others to show so they had the advantage. Danny popped up from the brush, and Sawyer turned sharply, firing off a couple of shots. He tried for a third, but when he fired, the gun clicked- empty. "You're out, Copper!" He called.

"So I heard!" Jane nodded. She turned to the other woman. "Kate?"

Kate checked her gun. "Running low here, too."

A branch crunched a few feet from them, and they turned in that direction. Danny's remaining comrade set up for a quick shot, when suddenly, something hit his face and he fell back.

The three looked in the other direction to see a young woman hiding in the bushes. She stood up. "Come on! Hurry!"

"Who the Hell's that?" Sawyer and Jane demanded at the same time.

"It's okay! Follow her!" Kate insisted, already halfway over to the girl.

Sawyer and Jane looked at each other and shrugged. Jane paused before following. She went back over to the Other the girl had hit with something, and then seeing he was out cold, took his gun, then tore after the other three. She let herself stray behind them for extra backup. She spotted the girl open a trapdoor somewhere on the ground and ushered Kate and Sawyer inside. The girl looked back at her and waved her over. "Come on!"

Jane shook her head, then pointed at the trees to her right. She raised her gun and nodded.

The girl seemed to understand and nodded back before going through the trapdoor and closing it.

Jane headed behind one of the trees and pressed herself against it, waiting for Danny and the last of his men to show up. She closed her eyes and strained to calm her breathing for a couple of seconds. Of course, a moment later, a hand clapped over her mouth. Her eyes flew open and she tried to scream from under it, but the protest died in her throat when she realized it was Richard, and she had seen a 'be quiet' look too many times to recognize it as anything different. She nodded slowly.

Richard let his hand drop, only to grab her wrist and yank her down when the Others came into the area. The silence was deafening once again. A few seconds later, Danny forced out an order to move on through hisses of pain. The pair waited a few more seconds, and then Jane let out a heavy sigh and leaned back before looking at Richard. "Why are you helping me? Helping us?"

Richard sighed as well, then looked down. "We've been over this. Because you're one of the few of your people who don't deserve what's happening- and probably will happen to you." Richard replied.

"And why else?" Jane demanded. When Richard's frown deepened, she sighed. "Come on. With all of your people's mindsets and games? You must think I'm an idiot to think that 'I'm a good person' is the only thing that's making you help me."

Richard forced a laugh, and sighed. "Fine, it's… you just…" He looked at her. "You remind me of someone I knew a long, long time ago."

Jane was about to inquire further when she heard Sawyer muttering a complaint. She looked back at where the trapdoor had been, and sure enough, the three were coming out.

"Go to them, quickly." Richard instructed.

Jane shifted to get back up, and when she went to look back at Richard, the spot he had been in was vacant. She shook her head, not knowing what to make of the man of mystery. She jogged into the clearing to catch up with them.

"Thought we lost you, Copper!" Sawyer called over his shoulder.

"Gotta try harder than that to get rid of me, Pal. I thought I've already told you that." Jane replied.

"People, no time! Come on!" The girl insisted.

"Hey, we've been runnin' the whole damn time, Sister, so shut it." Sawyer snapped. "Besides, what was that? A hobby of yours, digging holes?"

"Yeah, that and basket weaving. Want one?" The girl shot back.

Jane smirked. She didn't know who the girl was, but she gave the kid props for that.

"You have a tunnel to the mainland?" Sawyer asked after a moment.

"No, but I have a boat." The girl replied.

"Can we use it?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, but we gotta hurry." The girl replied, turning to continue on the trek.

The women went to follow, but Sawyer held out his arm to stop them. "Hold on a sec. You just happen to find us in the woods, you just happen to have a boat, and you're just gonna let us use it?"

The girl hesitated. "There's something we have to do first."

"Oh gee," Sawyer sighed.

"No, Sawyer, hear her out." Jane cut in.

Sawyer turned to her, took hold of her arm and leaned over. "What, you trust her?" Sawyer muttered in her ear.

"Cop intuition, remember? I'm not getting a typical Other vibe with her." She replied, then looked at the girl. "What is it?"

"My boyfriend is being held prisoner. If you help me rescue him, I promise you I'll get you back to the other island." The girl replied.

Sawyer sighed. "This boyfriend- his name happen to be Karl?"

The girl stared for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah,"

The women glanced at him, confusion evident on their faces.

Sawyer sighed, then grabbed Jane's hand. "Come on, people!"

Jane blinked a couple of times, then glanced down at their hands before she let him drag her off, exchanging further confused looks with the other girls, who shrugged and followed.

A few minutes later, they reached the outside of a different compound.

"Okay, maybe this wasn't the best idea…" Jane muttered.

Sawyer sighed. "Not at all, but this may be where her boy is, so…" He suddenly dropped, and Jane found herself getting dragged to the ground for the second time within an hour. She would've groaned at it, but Sawyer hissed that 'they had company', and that shut her up.

"He's gotta be in there." The girl insisted.

"You mean you ain't sure?" Sawyer hissed.

"It's the only place I haven't looked." The girl pointed out.

"You know the guard?" Kate asked in reference to the man outside the door, thumbing through a book.

"Yeah. His name's Aldo." The girl replied.

"… Aldo?" Sawyer scoffed.

Jane elbowed him, then looked at the girl. "What's yours, by the way."

"The name's Alex, Officer Payton." The girl replied.

"It's Jane, and okay, Alex. What's the plan, then?" Jane asked.

"I've got an idea, actually." Kate replied.

"Of course you do." Sawyer sighed.

Kate shot him a dirty look, then looked at Alex. "I'm gonna trust you with this gun. Don't do anything stupid." She handed it over. "Now, you have to make it look like you found all of us and are taking us in."

"We're gonna pull a Han and Chewie? Really?" Sawyer and Jane asked at the same time, once again. They didn't bother exchanging looks that time. They just went to work trying to arrange themselves to get Kate's plan into action.

A couple of minutes later, Alex had the gun to their backs and were guiding them towards the compound.

Once they got into view, Aldo jumped up. "Alex? What the Hell are you doing?"

"They must've gotten out of their cages. I caught them in the jungle. Now open the door." Alex ordered, heading over to the door.

"Whoa whoa whoa, just stop!" Also objected. He held up his gun. "Alex, you're not supposed to be here. If your dad finds out, he's gonna kill me-"

"-My dad was the one who told me to bring them here to you!" Alex countered. "Look, maybe you should call him. I'm sure he's got nothing better to do."

Aldo looked at all of them for a moment, then brought up his own walkie. "Danny, I need Ben."

The other four tried not to visibly flinch at the call.

"Why?" Danny snapped on the other end.

"I got Alex here. She's got Austen, Ford and Payton with her-" He was cut off when Sawyer slammed into him, tackling him to the ground and getting his gun. The conman stood back up and pointed the gun between Aldo's eyes.

As Danny continued to protest trusting Alex, Jane nudged the walkie over to the edge of the stair they were on and slammed her foot down onto it, shattering it into a few pieces. She kicked them all off the concrete and looked back at Aldo. "Well, wanna be more open with us now?"

Sawyer laughed dryly when Aldo frowned, then glared up at him. "Don't get mad at me 'cause you were dumb enough to fall for the old 'Wookie Prisoner' gag."

"Where's Karl?" Alex cut in.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Aldo replied.

"Shoot him in the knee." Alex said after a moment.

Kate frowned at her.

Alex looked at her. "What? Then give the gun to Jane. She did it to Danny and he's working through it- granted, she did it to Ethan too, and that didn't work, but…"

Sawyer hesitated.

Kate rolled her eyes, and then took the rifle from him and pointed it at Aldo's knee.

"Whoa, wait, hold on!" Aldo protested. "He's at the end of the hall, room 23! Keys are in my back pocket!" He admitted.

Kate nodded, then promptly turned the gun around and bashed the rifle butt into his face, knocking him out.

They got the keys, opened the door, and went in.

Sawyer tapped Kate's shoulder a few moments later. "Good con, Freckles. For a sec I thought you were gonna pull a 5.0 and shoot him."

"It wasn't a con." Kate objected.

"Here it is!" Alex called from the end of the hallway.

After the three reached the door, Alex pulled the door open and they all filed in. Loud music met them in the room, and they all observed a large screen taking up most of one of the walls. A chair was in the middle of the room, facing a screen. The screen itself went from various pictures of flowers to random combos of color. Words came on the screen- 'Everything Changes'- as did the pictures on the screen once again, going smaller and reappearing in various patterns. Various dolls, eyes, and sculptures showed up next.

The others tore their eyes off the screen, only to see someone was sitting in the chair. It was a young man, and there were odd glances that seemed like they were holding his eyes open, forcing him to watch what was going on onscreen. Kate, Jane and Sawyer realized it was Karl moments later.

Alex pushed her way passed the other three, then went to work trying to get Karl out of the chair. The other three joined her after watching the screen for a few more seconds.

The managed to get Karl out of the chair, and Sawyer hoisted the younger man over his shoulder before nodding at the door.

Once they got out, Alex hurried over to Sawyer in order to check on Karl. "Is he okay?"

Sawyer turned to her. "We got your boyfriend, now where's your damn boat?"

* * *

><p>Within minutes, the four came to the shore, where a boat was waiting for them. While Kate didn't seem surprised, Jane and Sawyer were relieved that she had kept her word- or hoped she did and it hadn't been tampered with or anything of the like.<p>

They set down Karl and started to push the boat into the water. After a few orders tossed back and forth, Sawyer straightened out. "So, you're the boss' daughter, huh? Never saw that comin'." He walked up the beach to Karl. "Let's go, Cheech. We're going for a little ride." He picked the younger man up again and eased him into the boat.

"Danny…" Karl groaned.

"No, Sawyer." Sawyer corrected.

"No, Danny." Karl repeated. He tried his best to point behind them.

The rest of the group flinched, then got up slowly, knowing full well what the boy meant now. In the middle of turning, Kate passed the rifle to Jane when their arms would've been hidden.

Jane saw Danny pointing the gun at Sawyer coming a mile away and brought the rifle up. "Even match, Pal. You really wanna go there?" She called.

"Hell yes, I do." Danny replied. His finger edged towards the trigger.

The next few moments seemed to go in slow motion for the group. They watched Danny's finger get closer and closer to the trigger, but a moment later, someone came out of the jungle- Juliet, to be precise. She called Danny's name, and then brought her gun up and released three shots into the man. Danny stood no chance against that, and fell dead in a heap.

When the group seemed to remember they had to breathe, they did so, then looked at Juliet slowly.

Juliet, in turn, lowered her gun, then tucked it into the back of her pants. "Go," She told them.

Jane frowned. "Just like that? You expect us to believe you- you expect _me_ to believe you?"

Juliet shrugged. "Ben's life is in danger. The deal was let you people go, and he lives. Seems simple to me."

"Last I checked you people are horrible at keeping deals." Jane replied, then pointed the rifle in Danny's body's direction. "Exhibit A,"

Juliet sighed. "Well, Jane, I'm not 'you people', and I do keep my word and keep deals going, so I suggest you all go back to your island."

Sawyer nodded. "You got it, Sister." He didn't give Jane the opportunity to protest further. He grabbed her hand, then yanked her backward to help get the boat to the water.

Jane did help, but kept a solid hold on the rifle, just in case.

"Let's go!" Alex insisted, giving the boat a shove.

"Not you, Alex!" Juliet called. "You're staying."

"Why?" Alex demanded.

"We both know your father, and the only way he'll let Karl live is if you're here when he wakes up."

Alex's shoulders slumped as she looked away.

"I'm sorry, Alex…" Juliet added.

Alex didn't respond. She merely walked over to Karl.

"Hey, Alex…" The young man greeted.

"Hey," she replied.

"I missed you."

"I know. I missed you too. You have to go away now, but I'll see you real soon, okay?" Alex asked.

Karl nodded, then sighed. "I love you."

Alex flinched, then kissed his cheek.

"I have to go to sleep now." Karl said, and within seconds, he was out cold.

Alex watched him, then visibly held back tears.

Kate, Jane and Sawyer looked at each other before pushing the boat again.

"Wait!" Juliet called. When they turned to her, she held out the walkie-talkie.

Knowing what she was getting at, Kate walked over and took it. "Jack?" She spoke into it. "Are you there?"

A few seconds later, Jack came on. "_Yeah, I'm here, Kate. You guys okay?"_

"Yeah, we got a boat. They're letting us go."

"_Who's letting you go?"_ Jack replied.

"The blonde woman." Kate replied, then held it out when Jane added 'Juliet.'

_"So you're safe? All three of you?"_

"Yes- yeah."

_"Tell me."_

"Tell you?"

"_The first day on the beach, the day of the crash. The story that I told you- if you're safe, tell me."_

_"You think this is the best time_" Tom began.

"_SHUT UP!_" Jack countered.

Jane had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at it. At that moment, she needed humor, and having Jack say something that she wanted to tell Tom every time she had seen him, and in the exact manner as well, definitely worked for that. She looked back at Kate.

The woman looked at them, then looked like she was struggling to recall the story. "You were doing surgery on a girl, and you messed up. You made a mistake. You tore something on her back, and all the nerves came loose. You said you were so afraid…" Kate had to stop in order to control the tears that had reached her eyes. "The fear was so… real, and you didn't know what to do. So you counted to f-five, and then you weren't afraid anymore, and then it was just gone…. And you fixed her. You saved her." Kate whimpered and covered her mouth.

Jane frowned and swallowed hard herself. She glanced at Juliet, and even she looked like she didn't know how to react.

After a few seconds, Jack spoke up again. _"Kate, Jane, I need both of you to make a promise."_

Kate looked at Jane and tried to collect herself more before stepping closer to Jane and extending her arm so the walkie was directly between them. "Jack?" Kate asked, and Jane followed up with, "What is it?"

_"Promise me you'll never come back here for me_." Jack instructed.

Kate and Jane frowned at each other, disbelief clear on their faces. Jane leaned over. "Jack, what the Hell does that mean? Why don't you want us to-"

_"Just don't come back_." Jack cut her off.

"Where are you…?" Kate asked.

Jane nodded, then frowned when she heard a muffled '_turn it off_' come from Jack. "Tom, don't you dare! Jack, talk to us! You don't want us to come back, fine, but tell us-" She heard the other line go dead, and then just stared at the walkie for a while. She looked back at Kate, and the woman was just about in tears all over again. She didn't know what possessed her, but she took the walkie from her with one hand, and put the other around Kate, trying to be some comfort.

Sawyer walked up, then took the walkie from her. "Trades are coming up…" He told them. "We gotta go…" He passed the walkie onto Juliet. "Let's go…"

"Yeah, okay…" The girls nodded, going back to the boat and pushing it once again. They made it into the water, then got settled on the sides. None of them so much as looked back as they brought the sail up and started to move towards the other island.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I am so, so, so sorry for the wait. Half of it was because of laziness/other fics, the last half was because Life thought it would be awesome to take my family and I on a way too long joyride... bleh. Anyways, hopefully this makes up for the wait. Enjoy. **

* * *

><p>Jane flinched as Kate and Sawyer continued to argue about Jack's fate. She was sick of it. She had tried to stay out of it as much as she could, but she just couldn't keep it up anymore. "Would both of you just shut up?" She forced out.<p>

The pair turned to look at her.

Jane frowned, but looked at Kate. "Look- I want to be with you on this, I really do, but I'm with Sawyer- just not for those reasons." Her frown deepened when Kate rolled her eyes. "No- hear me out. Look, Jack told us to go. He told us to leave without him. He wants us out of there, I want to follow his instructions…" she leaned forward. "Look, I want to protect him as much as you do. I'm terrified for him as much as you are…" if not more, she mentally added, "but we just can't right now. Not just the three of us against an army when we have three guns without ammo and we're all hurting. Got it?"

"Exactly," Sawyer nodded. "You think Captain Bunny Killer would welcome us right back? You got another thing coming."

"He's right," Karl chimed in after a moment. He lifted his head slightly, and then, "God loves you as he loves Jacob."

"O…kay. Thanks for the input…" Sawyer replied.

Jane sighed and scooted her way over to Karl, running a hand through his hair before resting it on his forehead. "He's dehydrated and he's burning up. We need to get home fast," she pointed out, then looked at Kate. "There's another reason to go. I care about Jack, but he seemed to know what he was doing, and I intend to keep the promise we made to the girl that saved our lives. We gotta take care of him."

Kate hesitated, then nodded. "Fine,"

The rest of the journey passed in silence, until they were ready to make camp, in which Sawyer and Kate went right back to arguing. After a while, Karl looked up at Jane, who had curled up opposite him. "… … They're not gonna stop, are they?"

"Not likely. You best get used to it. After a while you learn to tune it out," Jane shrugged. "You feeling any better?"

Karl shrugged. "Slightly. Still have a nasty headache, I'm starving, I'm thirsty…"

"Well, we'll work on that. We're almost there."

Karl only hummed in agreement before turning over to doze off again.

* * *

><p>Within an hour, Jane was relieved to be back on their Island. It wasn't camp yet, but it was a start. To Jane and Karl's horror, however, Kate and Sawyer continued arguing. It had been over times to hunt of all things. After there was a dead silence, Karl looked at Jane, who shrugged. "Your turn to stop 'em, Pal," she muttered.<p>

Karl sighed in agreement, then looked at the other two. "You shouldn't fight. You shouldn't fight because you're lucky to be alive."

Sawyer scoffed. "Golly, I think he's got a point,"

"He does, Jackass. Be nice. Now's not the time to go off on him, either," Jane pointed out.

Sawyer merely smirked at her before splitting his apple and tossing one half at her. "Since you're the only one who seems to appreciate it who deserves it…"

Jane rolled her eyes, but took a bite anyway. She peeked over to make sure Karl had eaten his own fruit and was pleased to find he had.

After another few seconds of silence, Kate spoke up. "So, that other island- is that where your people are from?"

"Just where they work…" Karl corrected.

"Work on what?"

"Projects?"

"Well sure, like steal a kid off a raft project? That was a humdinger."

Jane opened her mouth to protest, then stopped. He had every right to ask about that one.

"So you don't actually live on that Island?" Kate cut in again.

"Nope,"

"Do you live here on this island?"

"Yes ma'am,"

"And what did you do with the people that you took?" Kate continued. "The kids?"

Jane flinched. Of all things she could've asked Richard, that should've been one of them. How could she have forgotten about that?

"We give them a better life," Karl replied.

Jane tried not to show her eyebrows raise. Well, that seemed to be a Richard-esque enough answer.

"Better than what?" Kate continued.

"Better than yours," Karl replied. After a few seconds of silence, he continued. "There's not gonna be a moon tonight. It'll be dark. Me and Alex used to lie in my backyard at night, make up names for the constellations. You can't see it yet, but right there will be Ursa Theodorus- the teddy bear."

"You have backyards?" Sawyer asked.

"Yeah,"

Sawyer raised his eyebrows. "Well ain't that quaint."

Jane sighed. "Guys, come on. Let's just get some sleep. We can ask more questions in the morning," She offered.

The other three seemed to agree and settled down for a while.

A couple of hours later, Jane glanced over at Karl. She had stayed up just to watch him the whole time and make sure he was alright.. How old was this kid? Eighteen? Nineteen? How could he manage to go through all he had at such a young age?

"Copper, the Hell are you doing? The kid's fine. Get some sleep,"

Jane glanced up when she heard Sawyer's voice and merely sighed when he sat next to her, knee to knee. "I can't. I'm not just gonna leave him when we got him in this state. I made a promise to that girl, and you know me-"

"You're gonna-"

"You just said yourself he's a kid, Sawyer. He's practically Toni's age. I can't not ignore that," she replied.

"Well, he ain't your sister. He ain't your blood, so what does it matter?"

"It doesn't- but I guess that's how it does."

"What?"

Jane heaved a sigh and felt her breath catch. She knew she was seconds from breaking again and she hated it- especially that it was him she was about to break in front of. "I got Toni back when we were at the compound, Sawyer," she began. "I got her back… … and… I was just so angry, I practically just… disowned her. I told her I didn't wanna see her. I mean, we talked after that and kind of made amends, but it still happened," her eyes burned and she scoffed at the action as well as the memory. "She's my blood, and even in our situation when I had no idea what was going on, I stabbed her in the back over a stupid hunch, and… God, she's still there. I didn't even bargain for her. What kind of sister can I be?" She cracked, but forced back the sob that was threatening to start. She was surprised when Sawyer pulled her against him a moment later.

"Shut up. You're a damn fine sister. If you weren't she wouldn't have made it this far. If you two kissed and made up, it's fine. She's a smart cookie, she can handle it- same with Weirdo over there. His brain's a bit scrambled, but he's aware enough and he looks better than he did. Sleeping for a couple of hours won't hurt either of you."

Jane forced out a laugh after a while. "Who woulda thought it would be you giving the pep talk?" she muttered.

"Not even me, Sweetheart," Sawyer replied. He moved his arm when she leaned into him and laughed so she could get a better hold. "So, about the work camp and you and me-"

"Uh uh. Don't ruin the first moment you and I have had in ages-"

" 'Scuse me if-"

"I was happy you were alive and it worked proving loyalties. That's all."

Sawyer sighed, then smirked and twisted his body so he lay down and pulled her with him, leaning into his side.

"Sawyer-"

"Just… shut up and sleep, Copper. Worry about the kid in the morning. Next step is begging and I won't give you the damn satisfaction."

Jane forced out another laugh, then sighed and lay down. "Fine, but if something goes wrong with the kid I'm taking it out on you,"

"When am I not your damn punching bag? Put your damn head down already."

Jane nodded and did as she was told, then cursed herself mentally when part of her had the thought occur that the man was quite comfy to lean against. Bad. No. Stop. Tired.. "Two hours…" She thought out loud. "Two hours then I'll wake up and beat the crap out of you and then…"

Sawyer waited for the next threat, but when it didn't come, he glanced down to find she was out like a light. He let out a breath's worth of a laugh. He was wondering when everything would get to her. He didn't expect it to be that easy. He tucked his chin closer to her head and closed his eyes. Two hours. Might as well enjoy it while he could- if it even ended up being that short.

* * *

><p>Jane came to a few hours later to Kate shaking her awake. She was dimly aware of the fact Sawyer's hand was on her thigh until his fingers dug into it when he was waking up as well. "What's happening?" She asked.<p>

"Just get up," Kate insisted.

Jane turned to look for Karl, but saw the spot vacant. "… Damn it!" She scrambled upright, watching as Kate ran down the path a few feet.

"He's gone. Karl's gone."

"Split up- now. Keep in sight, no shouting," Jane instructed. "I'll-" she stopped when Sawyer clamped a hand over her mouth and shushed her. She paused, then heard what he had- distant sobbing, coming from a few feet ahead of them.

Jane flinched and started to make her way over.

Sawyer pulled her back. "I got it," when the girls gave him skeptical looks, he shrugged. "Boys only," he added before walking ahead.

There was silence, then Jane scoffed and groaned when she heard Karl yell out in pain- not severe, but not minimal, either. "Damn it, Sawyer…" She wanted to advance, but stopped herself and waited. She frowned when he came back alone. "The Hell did you do?!"

"I gave the kid a pep talk," Sawyer replied with a grin.

"About,"

"I told you- boys only."

"I can kick you in the balls and-"

"Matters of the heart, Princess. He's goin' back to his girl," Sawyer replied with an eyeroll.

"He could've led us back to where they live," Kate objected.

"The kid's a target. He woulda slowed us down or gotten us killed," Sawyer replied. "Ben ain't gonna stop looking for him, so as long as-"

"All Ben wants is that kid as far away from his daughter as possible."

"As someone who's talked to Ben- not really quite sure that's one of his top proprieties. It was a stupid move, but Ben has nothing to do with this," Jane cut in.

Sawyer huffed, then turned on his heel and headed back towards the path. "Let's get back to camp,"

Jane squared her shoulders and followed him, stopping only when she realized Kate didn't do the same.

Sawyer spoke up, "You coming or not?"

"Should I walk beside you or ten paces behind you? You've gotten so good at telling me what to do, I can't think for myself anymore," Kate replied.

Jane rolled her eyes, put her hands up dismissively and headed for the nearest rock to sit down on. This was between them with whatever transpired, then stopped. No. She was done. "Guys, before you start this shit again, if we want to get home, this needs to goddamn stop. Look. We all feel guilty that we left Jack- Sawyer don't even deny it. All of us do, but he told us to. You're right- we didn't have a choice, but you know what? Jack wouldn't want this- ripping each other apart over being guilty or not, because it was his choice. Look, I don't know what you guys talked about in there, but please- worry about it when we get home? There are people I care about who I really need to see," she finished. She looked at Kate. "We'll work out a plan to get Jack back, but we need our people to do that first," she added_. And Richard. Richard could help, right? Would he? Don't focus on that now. _"Let's just regroup with everyone and call it a day for the moment."

Kate hesitated, then nodded, and Sawyer followed suit, and they started the last leg of their trip home.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry for the wait. My courseload got crazy and I could barely spare a second to work on this one. Anyways, here it is. Enjoy. **

* * *

><p>"Are we there yet?" Sawyer deadpanned.<p>

"If we are where I think we are, then our beach should be just through those trees. We'll be home in about five minutes," Kate replied.

"Great…" Jane sighed.

Sawyer looked at her. "What is it, Copper? You should be most relieved to be home after what you've dealt with."

"It's the fact people may think I actually stabbed you guys in the back. What if they think… what if they still believe that? What if they think I'm just a plant again?" Jane asked.

"Then they're jackasses. You've helped plenty of them enough for them to not think that," Sawyer offered.

Jane frowned, still grateful he didn't make a wisecrack in reponse. "Ethan-"

"Was a con and it was early in the game. You called it, we were hesitant until it bit us in the ass. Everyone knows it."

"And what about having to explain about Jack?" Kate cut in, and looked at Jane. "You and I have our differences, but I'll admit I'm worried about how they're going to take your so-called betrayal and then not having Jack back with us when he was the first you came across during your stay with them," Kate replied.

"Exactly," Jane replied.

"They're gonna have to go through me to get to you if they try anything, Copper. You're safe. I- Ah! Son of a bitch!"

"What?" the girls asked.

Sawyer sat down. "Stepped on something," he replied, bringing his foot up.

"Is that a dart?" Jane mused, stepping down to see it.

"It ain't a tranq, is it?" Sawyer asked. "Being tranqued once is enough for me."

"No, just… looks like a playing dart," Jane replied.

Kate nodded, then looked at Sawyer. "Relax your foot for a second, okay? I'm gonna get it out. On the count of three, ready? One…" she yanked the dart out, and both women would be lying if there wasn't some satisfaction in his yelp.

"I thought you said three!" Sawyer objected.

"Anticipation's the worst part," Kate replied.

Sawyer paused, then shrugged.

Jane patted him on the shoulder. "You okay to move again?"

"Yeah, let's go,"

Within a couple of minutes, they came out of the jungle, right onto the beach. Jane let out a half nervous, half relieved laugh when she spotted their camp. Within seconds, the survivors had spotted them and hurried over, Gabriella leading the charge over to her.

Her older sister yanked her into a hug and refused to let go. "I really thought you were dead this time around! Oh God, I'm so happy to see you!" the rest of what she was going to say was lost in between sobs, and Jane merely held her until they subsided and Gabriella moved so Claire, who was right behind her, could move in and give a hug of her own.

Jane laughed again, fully relieved this time around as she returned the hug. She could deal with some of the survivors being suspicious of her, but as long as Claire was happy to see her and wasn't suspicious, that was a giant victory. She didn't know what she would do if one of her closest friends didn't believe her. "I missed you!" She blurted, practically rocking Claire from side to side.

"I missed you too! God, I was so worried! Aaron misses his auntie!" Claire replied, finally pulling back to look her up and down. "Oh, you look terrible! You three have dibs at the showers!"

Jane laughed and hugged her again, quickly letting go this time since Rose had all but shoved her way through the crowd to get to her. "Hi!" She grinned and hugged the woman, before Rose went on, saying nearly the same things word for word that Claire did. Her grin widened when Bernard snuck over to kiss her on the cheek and put an arm around her. There it was. A good portion of the people she cared about were there for her and were happy to see her. So far, so good. The other survivors came by to greet her, including Charlie who all but launched himself into a hug with her, but she noted some still stayed back. After a few moments, Jane reached over and tugged Claire back over when she noticed a handful of people were still missing. "Where's Bob? Lewis? … Hurley?! Oh my God. Where's Hurley? Tell me-"

Claire put her hands up. "Hurley's fine. He just… apparently he found a car and he's trying to get it working with Jin."

"Jin's helping?!" Jane asked. "God, what happened when we were gone?"

Claire laughed. "He didn't exactly know what he was signing up for,"

Jane smiled weakly. "That makes me feel a little better."

Claire nodded, then looked around. "Where's Jack?"

Jane's smile faded. And there it was. "He uh, he stayed behind with the Others. It's… it was his choice, but it's complicated. He… he did it for us, but there were too many lives on the line."

Claire hesitated, but nodded. "Oh,"

"Hey, we're gonna get him back. I promise," Jane replied.

Claire's smile was back after that. "Fair enough. I just hope we can do it quickly."

"So do I, Babe," Jane replied.

A few seconds of silence passed, then Claire turned. "Well, come on. I can't let Aaron wait for his aunt forever!"

Jane's smile was back. "I can't wait. He didn't grow too much when I was gone, did he?"

* * *

><p>Jane found that she could barely stop looking and playing with Aaron for a good few minutes. She, Gabriella and Claire had all moved back to Claire's tent and were enjoying down time. The boy seemed just as happy to have her as a companion. She laughed at a face the boy made when she had booped his nose when she heard Sawyer swear before tearing out of their tent. "What is it?"<p>

"They stole. My. Damn. Stuff!" He replied before storming off towards Charlie and Desmond.

Jane sighed and looked at Aaron. "Now Ar. Uncle Sawyer is the epitomy of what you don't wanna be when you grow up, so when you get old enough, I'm gonna make sure you take notes," she replied.

The girls chuckled and continued to play with the boy until Sawyer came over once again before grabbing Jane's hand and yanking her out of the chair.

Jane merely raised her eyebrows, but went with it anyway. "And where are we off to?" she asked frowning when she realized he was heading towards the jungle. "We just got back and you want us to go right back in?"

"We're seeing Stay-Puffed. You wanna see him for a reunion, I wanna see him for stealing. You can do your cop-ly duty there," he gave her hand another tug.

He led the way down one of the paths they had made until they heard rustling, and the outline of a thick head of long, curly hair.

"Hurley!" Jane called, hardly caring that any Other could hear them or be with him. She turned the corner, and Hurley looked up and stared at the pair for a moment before realization dawned on him. "… … YOU'RE ALIVE!" He blurted, running over and giving Sawyer a hug first.

Sawyer coughed, but smiled and patted him on the back with a laugh. "Yeah, yeah, Snuffy! It's good to see you too!"

Hurley let go of Sawyer, then turned to Jane before hesitating.

"Easy, Hugo. It was a con by the Others. She's always been one of us. They were playing it off like she had betrayed us. There was a gun at her back at the docks," he replied.

"Awesome!" Hurley nodded, barely wasting a minute before he hugged Jane, picking her up in the process. "Because I really missed you and we could've used you a bunch when you were gone!"

"Missed you too, Buddy!" Jane laughed, holding on an extra few moments when he put her down. "Has everything been okay?" she asked, smiling and waving when Jin peeked around the corner of the van after hearing all the commotion. "Hey, Jin! Long time no see!"

"Jane," he greeted, and she was honestly surprised when he opened his arms for a hug, but went to him all the same, scooting aside so he could do the same for Sawyer.

After a moment, Jin pulled back and pointed at them. "Good… to see you!"

Jane stared at him, then grinned and laughed. "Awesome!" She hugged him again, getting a chuckle from the man. She turned to Sawyer, who had a smile matching hers. "We missed a lot of shit, didn't we?"

"Hell yeah," Sawyer replied before offering a thumbs up to Jin. "The runt grew a bit, Stay-Puffed lost some pounds, this one's hooked on phonics."

Hurley laughed in agreement, then his smile faded. "Wait, uh, what about Jack and Kate? They with you? They all right?"

Sawyer looked at Jane, who shrugged. "Your turn, buddy . I told Claire and my sister," she pointed out.

The man sighed. "Kate's with us. But the Doc… they still got him,"

"His choice, not theirs," Jane cut in when she saw Hurley looked worried.

"And Toni?" Hurley asked.

"Also left behind. More their choice, but I think she'll be okay," Jane replied.

Hurley nodded after a moment. "It's okay! It's gonna be all right! Jack's gonna be alright! Toni, too! We all are!" He started walking away.

Sawyer and Jane exchanged confused looks. "Well that's a relief!" Sawyer replied.

"Nah, see, things are getting better. The car, you guys coming back safely, it's a sign!"

"Yeah, a sign I want my stuff back!" Sawyer replied.

"Sawyer, stop!" Jane gave him a gentle shove, then pointed at the van behind them. She looked at the van. "So this is the car I heard about, huh?" she asked.

"Uh huh. Just found it this morning," Hurley replied. "Wanna help me fix it?"

"Hell yeah," Jane nodded, the same time Sawyer scoffed and replied, "Hell no."

Hurley frowned at Sawyer, and he shrugged.

"Why should I help you?" Sawyer demanded.

"… 'Cause there's beer?" Hurley replied.

Sawyer looked at Jane, who smiled and shrugged. He turned back to Hurley. "Alright, I'm in."

"Looks like those Dharma freaks were building some sort of dirt road," Sawyer announced.

Jane squinted and looked over his shoulder to see what he was talking about, only to immediately pull back when he moved to get the case of beer just beyond the map.

"Ha! Now we're talkin'!" Sawyer continued to rifle around, then jumped back. "Son of a- what's a head doing in here?!"

"Head? Move," Jane scooted in beside him and realized he wasn't messing with them. There was an honest to God decomposed head in the middle of the junk, and it looked like it had only been separated recently.

"That's just Roger," Hurley replied dismissively.

Sawyer and Jane looked at each other, trying to sort out what had Hurley so optimistic about everything. Last they checked, a dead body- long dead or not, wasn't something to be so cavalier about.

Hurley spoke up again. "I'm gonna start the car now!"

Sawyer looked at Jane. "… You think it's a wise idea for him to do it so soon?"

Jane shook her head. "No, probably not, but… looks like we can't stop him."

"Oh good, we agree again!" Sawyer replied before taking the case of beer under one arm, then hooked his free pointer finger on her back belt loop and tugged up. "Come on, before he blows himself up with us in here," he replied.

"Don't say that," Jane snapped as they stepped back. "He can do it. Maybe not now, but he can do it…"

Sawyer scoffed, then sat down and patted the spot next to him. "Come on. Beer time,"

"It's probably terrible. If there was a dead guy… no. I'm not."

Sawyer rolled his eyes. "Fine," he patted the spot again. "Sit, though."

Jane sighed and sat down, then watched Hurley and Jin as they tried to see what had gone wrong since Hurley's first attempt didn't work.

After a while, Sawyer leaned forward. "Hey! Puffster- take it easy, let Jin do his thing!"

Hurley frowned at him. "Dude, that beer's been sitting there since before Rocky Three. Maybe even Two. It's probably poison by now."

"Skeletor seems to like it," Sawyer countered, touching the can to Roger's head. "Bottom's up!"

While Jane only groaned, Hurley leaned over again. "That's not cool, Dude! That guy had a mom, a family and friends…! Oh, and a name- Roger! Not Skeletor! It's Roger Workman!"

"It's Work Man, you blockhead! That's his job!" Sawyer countered. "He was a Dharma janitor!"

"Yeah, well you should still respect the dead!" Hurley countered.

Sawyer put his hands up in surrender. "Okay!"

"He's not wrong," Jane shrugged.

Sawyer waved his hands that were still up, trying to prove he did.

Jin came up from his work and started speaking Korean.

Hurley turned to him. "Whoa, whoa whoa. Can you fix it?"

After a moment, Jin shook his head. "No. No fix."

Jane frowned when Hurley looked devastated. "Hurl…" she got up and put her hand on his shoulder. "You-"

"But you have to! I mean, can't you try, Dude?!" Hurley cut her off, still looking at Jin. "I mean, we gotta get this running!"

"Hey, leave the man alone! He said 'no fix'!" Sawyer pointed out. He patted the side of the van. "Take a look at the mess back there. There's no way it's gonna get running. How thick are you?"

"What's your problem, Man?" Hurley demanded. "Why- why don't you want this to work?"

"He didn't say that," Jane pointed out.

Sawyer pointed at her. "I don't care if it works. Why is it so important to you?"

"Because we could all use a little hope!"

"If it's hope you're looking for, Ese, you're on the wrong damn island, 'cause there sure as Hell ain't no hope here," Sawyer replied before taking a swig of his beer.

The four sat in silence, all setting in with that consideration.

* * *

><p>Another few minutes had Jane cleaning out the back of the van as Sawyer gave Jin an English lesson- well, his version of English, anyway. She had to stop and chuckle every so often, but Jin was doing well so far, so she couldn't complain."<p>

"Beer," Sawyer raised his can of beer.

Jin held up one of the cans. "Beer!"

"Beautiful!" Sawyer clapped, then elbowed the car. "Car,"

Jin mimicked him once more, getting the word right again.

Sawyer nodded again, then motioned at Hurley. "International House of Pancakes!" he said, then chuckled when Jane reach back in order to whack him upside the head. He took advantage right after by reaching for her then yanking her into his lap. "Pain in the ass!" he motioned at her, then let her scoot over as Jin laughed along with him. He looked over at Hurley. "What're you doing over there? Come on, join us!"

"No, and I'm praying," Hurley replied.

"Praying for what?" Sawyer asked.

"Help," Hurley replied simply.

"Well Hell, I got a little help right here," Sawyer reached down and took a beer, tossing it to him. Hurley ignored it and they all watched it go.

Sawyer was about to protest before Hurley got up and hurried over.

"Guess he really does want that beer," Sawyer mused, then groaned when Jane got up to follow him. "Aw, come on! Do we have to?"

"Yes we do," Jane tugged on his hand, and he got up, reluctantly following. "You two discussed murdering me and you're the bait that I follow 'til I'm over there and he stabs me, aren't you?"

"If thinking that makes you happy," Jane shrugged.

A moment later, Hurley came running back out. "Wait! No one move! I'm gonna go get Charlie!" he blurted before hurrying off without another word.

"Alright, that was weird, Jane replied, then turned to Sawyer.

Sawyer let out one syllable of a laugh, then turned back around. "Alright, Jin-Bo! New lesson: the only English words you ever need to know, startin' now!"

* * *

><p>Jane pulled back from continuing to clean out the back of the van to hear more of Jin's so called 'Lesson.'<p>

"I'm sorry," Sawyer said,

"I'm … sorry," Jin parroted.

Sawyer nodded. "Okay, nice. Keep it coming."

"You… were… right," Jin continued.

Jane playfully flinched and shook her head. She hadn't hear what the prompts were, but she had a feeling she wouldn't like it.

"Alright, that's two. Hit me," Sawyer replied.

"Those… pants don't make you look fat," Jin said.

"Oh , come on!" Jane blurted, hitting Sawyer again. "That's what you're teaching him?"

"Might as well, Copper!" Sawyer replied.

Jane scoffed, then looked at Jin. "Jin, forget three. The last one. No!" She made a slashing motion with her hands. "Those pants don't make you look fat- no. Three is 'you're beautiful', if anything."

"That's just as pathetic. And you agree with the first two?" Sawyer asked.

"Because men are always wrong, Sweetheart," Jane replied.

Sawyer went to reply but Hurley came around the corner. "Come on, let's get to work!"

"What's your problem, Jumbotron?!" Sawyer demanded.

"Shut up, Red… Neck… Man!" Hurley countered.

Jin just looked on, knowing he should've been surprised as Jane and Sawyer gawked for a minute before Sawyer made an impressed face. "Touché!"

The pair finally noticed Charlie. "What's Jiminy Cricket doing here?"

"We need another man," Hurley replied.

"Another man for what?" Sawyer asked.

"To push this car, dude!"

"Push it? Push it where?" Sawyer continued.

Hurley stared at him for a minute before walking over and picking Sawyer up, despite the man yelling protests. "Jane, you comin'?"

"Right behind you," Jane replied.

She followed Hurley to the spot he had been before and when they broke through the brush, Jane gaped at the huge clearing in front of them that was dominated by a large hill. It was gorgeous, to say the least. "How'd we never find this?"

"Not a clue, but we need to get the thing up here to-"

"Kickstart it," Jane realized.

"Lemme go! I see it and I'm in already so… off!" Sawyer objected.

"Fine then! Come let us get the van over here!" Hurley replied, dropping him almost immediately before tearing off back towards the van.

Sawyer looked at Jane, then grabbed her hand again. "Come on, Sweetheart! Time to get your hands dirty again,"

"Let's do it," Jane shrugged, and when Sawyer looked at her and smirked, she shoved him again. "Shut up!"

"You said it, not me!" Sawyer countered before tossing an arm around her shoulders and leading her back towards the van.

Another few minutes passed, and they had pushed the van into the clearing. Once they had reached it, Jane, Sawyer, Jin and Charlie watched as Hurley carefully steered it forward before putting the parking brake on. Hurley got out and the group approached the edge where the hill dropped, and they noticed it was steeper then they first assumes.

"Oh, this'll be good…" Sawyer sighed.

"Charlie and I can go down, try to find a less steep way to go," Jane offered, and Charlie nodded.

"No. This was supposed to be fun. It's not like it's a cliff. The van can totally make this," Hurley said dismissively.

"Are you nuts? You're not gonna drive down that, "Sawyer replied.

"We're gonna jumpstart it," Hurley corrected. "You guys are gonna push it, then on the way down, I'm gonna pop the clutch and get it started."

" You see those rocks? All you're gonna do is crash into those real fast," Sawyer warned, pointing at a rockface further down. "If you don't roll over first."

"Hurley, no," Jin insisted.

"They're right, you know. We can push it back to another place. I mean, it's a lot of work but there's the golf course somewhat nearby." Jane replied.

"Guys, I know how to drive. Now come on. Just push me. This'll work, I know it," Hurley reassured them.

Sawyer leaned over to look at Charlie. "And what are you out here for?" he asked. "Watch him crash and burn?"

"Sawyer!" Jane elbowed him in the ribs. "Not now!"

Charlie glared Sawyer down, looked at the hill and back. "I came to ride shotgun,"

The other four turned to look at him, but he merely raised his eyebrows, grinned, and headed for the car.

Jane sighed, then looked at Jin and Sawyer. "You guys in?"

"Your funeral, " Sawyer replied. "Come on, let's give them their ride," he led the way behind their car, and when Hurley gave the order to push, they did. Within seconds, the van was practically in freefall, plowing its way through branches and long grass, picking up nearly too much speed as they did.

"I- I thought they were good, but this is… I… am not gonna watch this now," she turned and tucked herself into Sawyer's shoulder, and he grunted before putting an arm around her. She squinted harder when music started up, and then she felt Sawyer smacking her other arm.

"Jay… Jay!- they did it! The sons of bitches did it! You ain't gotta worry about not watching because they did it!" Sawyer blurted.

"What?" Jane turned again, then gawked when she saw the van driving along the lower part of the hill, safely away from the rocks. "Holy shit…!"

"Hurley!" Jin cheered.

"Well come on, we gotta go congratulate those crazies!" Sawyer replied before taking off down the hill, and Jane and Jin followed. They reached the bottom, and Hurley drove over to pick them up and they all piled in the back, laughing and cheering all the way as Hurley drove around aimlessly.

They kept at the driving for a while longer until all of them were laughed out and stopped in order to return to the beach. When Hurley offered to stay behind for a while, Jane leaned over, catching the prideful look on his face and kissed him on the cheek. "Congrats, Buddy. Good job,"

Hurley merely beamed at her and waved as she joined the others on the way back.

* * *

><p>That evening, Jane was back with Claire and Gabriella, folding old laundry. Jane had to laugh at the fact she forgot she even had some of the clothes she had.<p>

"So… do you think that they're taking care of Toni?" Gabriella asked after a long while of silence.

Even Claire looked up in question at that.

"I do," Jane replied, then paused. "There's… one person looking out for her in particular. He's… more than he seems. And for his sake, that's all I'm saying,"

Gabriella sighed, but decided to take that as an answer. She glanced up when Sawyer approached them. "Oh, what do you want?"

"Just visiting. Yeesh, you try and be friendly," he shook his head, then knelt down and turned his back before leaning against Jane's side.

"We're back to this, huh?" Jane asked.

"You bet. You have no idea how comfy you are," Sawyer replied, earning an eyeroll from the women. "Just sayin'."

"So you guys are back to being weirdly dependent but making it work?" Gabriella asked.

Jane shot her a disapproving look, but Sawyer raised her head. "Sorry, who just helped save your sister's life and brought her back here?"

"Sounds like she did a good portion herself," Gabriella countered.

"Guys, come on. Take it easy. He helped, and don't pull the crap when he's right here. We just got back. No fighting."

Sawyer raised an eyebrow and pointed at her.

Gabriella rolled her eyes and got up before walking off.

"Oh, come on, Gabby!" Jane called after her, but got no response.

Jane looked at Claire. "Who the Hell's been planting ideas in her head or what's gotten her like that?"

"No idea," Claire shook her head. "But, for what's its worth, I'm happy that you're back," she replied, then looked at Sawyer. "Both of you," she added with a smile.

"Glad to be back, Barbie. How's Baby Blue Eyes?" Sawyer asked.

"Fine. Like I said, he missed both of you, too." Claire replied.

"Awesome. Nice to feel that way," Sawyer nodded, then looked at Jane. "That's the welcome home you were looking for, wasn't it? So welcome home, Copper."

"Welcome home, Sawyer."


End file.
